Bad Timing
by Hyperopia
Summary: An accident during the break in at the Ministry of Magic sends Harry Potter back in time. Unsure of whether he will ever return to his own time, he tries to make the best of a bad situation, and maybe a better future. Harry & Black sisters
1. Chapter 1

__**A/N:**__ _ _Hello, I apologise for disappearing, life came along and decided I needed a good kicking, I've not abandoned my other stories (a few errors aside, Why are you in my house? Is finished) I've had loads of ideas for stories and new chapters but I'm struggling to get them from my brain to the page, this popped into my head a few weeks ago and I publish it now to see what people think and see if there's any interest in it.__

 **Bad Timing**

 **Chapter 1**

Harry paused briefly to catch his breath, he pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. The crashing of shelves and tinkling of glass orbs rang through the hall, Death Eaters shouted and cursed, the acoustics made it difficult to pinpoint where they might be coming from.

He slipped into the shadows and searched around for any sign of his friends, lights strobed from other rooms making it difficult for his eyes to adjust to the dim light. A hand clamped over his mouth muffling his cry, as he started to mount a retaliation Hermione moved herself into view, she placed a finger over her lips and removed her hand from his mouth.

"I've lost track of Ginny, Luna, Ron and Neville, the Death Eaters doubled back, we need to go now!"

He nodded and took her arm, they crept to the nearest door. Peering inside there was no sign of anyone, light from an unknown source bathed the room in a soft yellow light, he recognised it as the time room. Carefully they crossed the threshold, there were two doors leading out, the brunette had closed her eyes in concentration trying to recall the layout, a bang sounded from their left and rattled the door, they stood still as stone but no one entered.

They made their way to the other door, they were in the middle of the room when the door ahead burst open, two black robed, masked figures entered. Harry and Hermione dived apart and began duelling, he managed to disarm and stun his assailant, he sent a spell towards the other and caught him off balance, Hermione's spell missed its target but hit a Death Eater coming to investigate the noise.

He pulled off his hood and mask, his hands reached for his throat as if he were choking, he staggered into a shelf and slumped to the floor, the large bell jar containing the life cycle of a song bird tumbled down, instead of shattering it enveloped the swarthy man's head. They both watched as his matted black hair receeded and his stubble too, his lined face smoothed and shrank, soon he had the head of a squalling infant, then the whole process reversed and began all over, it was both repulsive and captivating.

He regained conciousness and struggled to his feet, slowly he lurched towards them, Hermione reasoned that they couldn't hurt him as he was a baby more often than not, as they argued the other door opened, time seemed to slow as they wheeled around to face the newcomer, the stunning spell hit Harry in the chest and blasted him across the room. The cabinet of time turners exploded and splintered as his body hit it, the young witch cast her own spell and the black robe figure crumpled, she approached cautiously and kicked his wand away before she moved towards her fallen friend.

The sands of the time turners hung in the air like dust motes, Harry was covered in a glittering layer, as she approached, the particles shone like the sun and as the light faded and she recovered from temporary blindness, Harry was gone.

He woke with a start, pain radiated along every inch of his body, he gingerly felt his head, beneath a sticky clump of hair there was a lump, he tried to sit up and dry heaved as a wave of nausea washed over him. His mouth was parched and his tongue felt too big for his mouth. The room was pitch black, so dark that he couldn't make out anything, he crawled forward and cursed as he collided with a piece of furniture.

The effort of pulling himself up to his feet made his stomach roll, whatever he was propped up on ran a long way in either direction, now he was upright he could see a faint light shining under a door.

Slowly he limped towards the light source, his breath came ragged as fresh aches and pains made themselves known. He reached the door and fumbled for the handle, as the door swung open a deafening alarm blared, the lights came on mercilessly bright, he cried out and fell to his knees, jarring them on the hard floor before curling up into a ball and pressing his hands hard over his ears. Eventually the sound stopped but his ears still hurt from it, he heard voices approaching, friend or foe, he had no idea and wasn't in a position to do anything to defend himself. A gruff voice cut clear and he could make out that there were two men.

"It's probably just a false alarm Nobby, I didn't need to be dragged here at this hour"

"Minister Leach while we are conducting ministry business Cygnus"

"Bugger formality Nobby, I've known you long before you took office, now lets see what a huge waste of time this is and maybe I can go home"

The door opened and both men exclaimed, one set of footsteps swiftly crossed the room, a shadow passed over his face and firm hands carefully moved him onto his back.

"Who in Merlin's name is that?"

"No idea, this child couldn't have broken in here"

The silently cast spell hit him unaware and he couldn't hold in the shout of pain, he lay stiff as a board with his arms and legs pinned tightly together

"Let's throw him in a cell and deal with him later"

"Not yet, what's your name lad?"

No sound came, a dry tongue licked dry lips to no avail, a strong hand supported his head and the voice summoned a glass of water, he sucked greedily as the cool liquid entered his mouth, he drank too fast, he coughed and spluttered but managed to find his voice

"Harry"

"Well Harry, can you please tell the minister and myself how you came to be in my office in the dead of night?"

"No...idea...sorry"

"Cygnus, there is a lot of magical residue here, it's setting my teeth on edge"

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him, he's a little banged and bruised, he's bleeding a little, check it Nobby"

A warmth flowed across his body and then it passed

"He's a pure blood, maybe half blood, this isn't an accurate test, either way he tested positive"

The water returned to his mouth and this time he sipped cautiously, he felt better, the glare wasn't burning into his eyes anymore, he blinked several times and looked at the men, the one called Nobby was a tall man with an athletic build, age had softened him somewhat, he had a salt and pepper beard and a shock of mousey brown hair. Cygnus was also a tall man, jet black hair and a neatly styled goatee, he had strong chisled features, he was tall and stocky but well proportioned, he would probably be referred to as handsome.

"What year is this?"

"The lad must have hit his head pretty hard" Nobby chuckled, the sound hurt his head

"It's 1971, what is your last name?"

His mind reeled, he must have misheard, how could it even be possible? He recalled the conversation he'd had with Hermione and Dumbledore during his third year, and he was certain going so far back in time was just not possible, a course voice cut through his stupor

"Boy?"

A question had been asked of him but he couldn't remember hearing it, too preoccupied after learning the year, with an air of impatience Cygnus repeated himself

"Your last name?"

"Um, it's P-Potter"

"There are a few notable Potters, but I don't think any of them have a son called Harry"

"Do you have any family here?"

"No"

"Don't forget there was a huge magical event in this room, apparation gone awry perhaps, the magical accident reversal squad have been called out to more than I can count, what shall we do with him?"

Harry tracked Cygnus with his eyes, the man stood and paced, he took out his wand and began muttering. After a few moments he stopped and looked him right in the eye.

"I'll take him home Nobby, the boy needs rest and we can worry about the rest later"

"If you're sure Cygnus, it'd definitely save on the paperwork" he chuckled to himself

The Minister drew himself up to his full height and bounced on the balls of his feet, he took out his wand and waved it in a complex pattern. Harry's own wand clattered to the ground as he was hoisted up onto his feet, he bent to retrieve it and swayed precariously once he was upright again, a firm hand on his shoulder steadied him. The men exchanged farewells and moments later he felt the uncomfortable squeeze of side along apparition. They landed on a perfectly manicured lawn, light spilled from a few windows, it gave only the slightest hint as to the size of the building before him.

Harry had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, he knew exactly where he was even though he'd never set foot here, as to why he'd been brought here, of that he had no clue.

"Sir, where are we and why have you brought me here?"

Cygnus was only a few steps ahead and striding purposely towards the doorway, he stopped and turned back to regard him.

"Would you rather I put you in a cell? Breaking into the Ministry of magic is a serious offense and Azkaban is no place for a youngster. Tell me how you came to be at the ministry, I know you know"

"I was trying to help a friend and there was an accident with the time-turners, I don't know anything more"

Harry couldn't quite meet the man's steely gaze but he merely nodded before he spoke

"There aren't any time-turners at the ministry, not yet, which can mean one thing, I made the right choice bringing you with me, you will not utter a word to anyone about where you came from, you are a distant relative of Charlus and Dorea Potter, do you understand?"

He just nodded, satisfied, Cygnus turned and strode towards the imposing building. Dawn was breaking behind the mountains in the distance, black faded to deep purple to blue and birds had taken up in a great chorus. The manor was a huge, as impressive as it was intimidating, it had towers, gothic in design, gargoyles squatted and cast their stony gaze in every direction. He jumped as a voice barked his name and the sound echoed, he walked towards the door at pace and jogged the last hundred metres.

A heavy hand grasped his shoulder and ushered him into the entrance hall, it was huge and opulent, all he could do was stand there and gape. A door closing somewhere on the upper levels broke the silence followed by footsteps growing louder by the second. A woman's voice hailed her husband, a tall woman, dressed tastefully in flowing black silk, stood at the top of the grand staircase, she had long black hair flecked with silver, she was beautiful and moved with a silky smooth elegance.

He shuffled awkwardly at their public display of affection and listened to Cygnus Black relay all that had happened that night, remembering not to look surprised at the news of his trips abroad and how Cygnus had been asked to care for him.

After a surprisingly warm welcome from Druella Black a house elf was summoned to escort him to his quarters, Cygnus patted him on the shoulder as he passed and assured him that his luggage would be delivered to his room once it had cleared customs, he thanked them both and followed the elf.

"One more thing Harry" an icy chill ran down his spine, he turned back to face Lady Black "breakfast will be in an hour, an elf will bring you, we'd love for you to join us, you must be hungry and the girls will be eager to meet you I'm sure"

"Of course, I will see you then"

He hoped that his answer didn't sound as unnatural to his hosts as it had to his own ears as he arranged his features into what he hoped was a smile and not a pained grimace. She smiled and walked away on her husband's arm, Harry's brain had finally caught up with events and his stomach made it quite clear that he was not in the mood for food of any kind. He was in Black manor and in an hour he'd be faced with the teenage versions of Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix.

As he walked ponderously after the tiny elf he barely acknowledged his surroundings, he reached the top of the grand staircase. He turned his head to the right and looked at the pictures and portraits, a slight sound made him whip his head round and he found himself looking into a pair of ice blue eyes, he felt his mouth fall open and hastily shut it. The face was beautiful, perfect skin as pale as milk, a flowing cascade of platinum blonde hair, and red lips raised in a curious smile, she had retreated and shut the door long before his senses returned and he was acutely aware that his heart was beating out of his chest.

A gentle and persistant tugging at the hem of his shirt roused him from his stupor and in no time he was being ushered through a door. The room was huge, the elf squeaked out a brief description of the layout, the Dursley's house was tiny by comparison. He thanked the elf who bowed and vanished with a click of its long fingers, he wandered into the bedroom, a huge trunk at the end of the bed was open and full of clothes that looked about his size.

The bathroom was just as magnificent as the other rooms, he showered slowly, the aches and pains soothed slightly under the cascade of hot water. He checked himself in the mirror, all the cuts and scrapes were superficial, he padded back out into the bedroom and selected an outfit he thought appropriate.

A glance at the clock in the corner informed him that he had 20 minutes before breakfast and anxiety gnawed at him, he held his hands out and watched as they shook slightly, tiredness crashed down on him as his adrenaline ran out. He vigourously rubbed his eyes, he was worried about his friends back in the present, he had no idea if they'd made it out, a hollow feeling crept over him, he couldn't bring himself to contemplate any of his friends dying.

He made a conscious decision to focus on the problems he was about to face head on, taking each minute as it came, he'd laid eyes on Narcissa, it was difficult attributing who he'd seen with the woman he'd dealt with in his own time. He'd never met Andromeda and was in no rush to meet Bellatrix again in any capacity, the wanted posters had been bad enough, a silently screaming banshee of a woman, all skin and bone, sunken cheeks, dark hollow eyes and a shock of crazy, matted curls.

Her laughter had rang out around the shelves in the hall of prophecy, then the sing song voice, so very child like, and then she stepped out of the shadows and took her place next to her brother-in-law, after that Ginny had blasted the nearest shelf and they had made a desperate dash for safety.

 _The clock chimed the hour, the noise shockingly loud after so much quiet, he checked himself in the mirror, reminded himself that he was a Griffindor and called upon as much courage as he could muster. It was time to meet the family._


	2. Chapter 2 - Tojours Pur?

_A/N : Wow! An amazing reaction, I can't thank you enough, hopefully you will enjoy the new chapter, I know they are short, but I will try and update often_

 **Chapter Two – Tojours Pur?**

Harry was in no hurry to reach their destination, the poor house elf squeaked it's annoyance, and tugged at his clothes. His eyes wandered again to the paintings, portraits, and tapestries adorning the walls, the vases situated on each window sill were no doubt as expensive as they were fragile. He stopped by a large set of double doors, through the glass he saw a balcony and beyond that the grounds of Black Manor.

The sudden stop caused the elf to fall comically to the ground, Harry apologised profusely before taking another look through the glass, hedges, ornate topiaries, fountains and lawns stretched off in either direction, it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.

He motioned for the elf to continue leading him, it let out an exasperated huff and walked on. As he descended the grand staircase a door creaked open and Cygnus stepped out into the main hall.

"You're looking a bit better lad and the clothes fit well, that will be all Noc, follow me, the women will be waiting and Dru can't abide being kept waiting"

The house elf bowed low and vanished with a crack. Cygnus was immaculately dressed and gestured for Harry to follow him, a broad smile that reached his dark eyes split his handsome face and Harry smiled back in spite of himself. He followed him a short way down another corridor and through a set of double doors.

He expected a huge impersonal room with a cold atmosphere and vaulted ceilings, it was a huge room with vaulted ceilings, but there was music and laughter. Out of habit he removed his glasses and cleaned the lenses on the hem of his shirt, he ran the fingers of his right hand through his messy hair as he looked around.

Instead of a huge banquet table there was a much smaller, intimate one, Druella sat on a large ornate chair, she was doing something that reminded him of muggle needlework, she inclined her head towards him and smiled. The people he had heard about in stories and in the archived press just didn't tally with what he'd seen and he'd only been here for a short amount of time.

He could say the same about the house, obviously he hadn't expected dark magical objects on every surface, but the place was nothing like he'd envisaged, it was light and airy, there wasn't a lot of difference between it and all those muggle stately homes he'd seen on television.

A sudden eruption of laughter caused him to jerk his head towards the noise, his mouth went dry and his heart thudded against his rib cage, the laughing girl was unmistakeably Narcissa, waif like, with her unmistakeable long silvery hair, as she stepped aside the source of many nightmares came into view, only it couldn't be.

The hair was no less wild, dark curls fell around her shoulders but as they caught the light they were noticeably not black, it could only be Andromeda, he'd heard that she looked so much like her eldest sister but had never had a reason to give it any in depth thought. She noticed him staring and waved, Narcissa turned and smiled at him. Yet again he forced the muscles in his face to respond and hoped that it wouldn't look like he was suffering from a bad case of wind.

Cygnus was chatting with his wife, it seemed sweet and tender, he cupped her face with his hands and kissed her full on the lips, her cheeks had a pink tinge to them once he'd withdrawn, a little embarrassed by the public display of affection, she beckoned to her daughters. The music stopped and they walked over arm in arm.

They took a seat either side of their mother, she placed an arm around each of them and pulled them into a brief hug. A chair was pulled out and offered to him, it took an enormous effort to make his legs work, he felt a lot better once he was sat down, Cygnus sat at the head of the table on Harry's left, one chair remained empty.

This would go down as the most surreal moment he'd ever experienced, the family chatted around him patiently awaiting the last member and the one person he had absolutely no desire to see. Druella spoke up and instantly the spotlight was on him.

"You must be starving Harry, Bella should be here, she does love being outside, she'll be along momentarily, anyway, this is Narcissa, my youngest, Andromeda, and Bellatrix is my eldest"

"It's nice to meet you"

"No need to be so formal Dru, there are very few people who don't know our family"

"Why is he here father?" Narcissa asked without any negative connotation, Harry was surprised

"I guess you'd say that I'm his guardian, his parents were killed for our cause, he needed somewhere to stay and it's not like we're short of space, he's family now"

After that proclaimation the atmosphere was considerably less cheerful, he felt like he'd taken a hit right to the heart, there was no way anyone could know the sick irony in the cover story. It wouldn't do to dwell on it, there'd be time for that later when he was alone in his room.

"It'll be nice to have someone new around, do you fly Harry?"

"Yes, I love to fly" Andromeda looked positively delighted

"What broom do you favour?"

Before he could answer the door at the far end of the room burst open and brought the conversation to an abrupt halt, a very muddy and very windswept Bellatrix strode into the room, she didn't look up at the captive audience, preoccupied with cleaning dirt from her clothes as best she could. Seemingly satisfied she scooped a mass of hair out of her face and over her shoulder, she looked like she'd been working out, her face was red under the dirt and a few strands of hair were plastered to her forehead with sweat.

"Bella?"

"I'm fine father, let's just say it was an awkward dismount" Cygnus grinned and shook his head

Her eyes grew large as she finally noticed the extra person at the table, before she could raise a question her mother's spell hit her and in an instant she was clean and presentable, her skin had a slight pink tinge as if she'd just had her face scrubbed, the pink on her cheeks darkened with slight embarrassment.

"Mother! I'm not a child and we have a guest" she looked nothing short of mortified

"Bells, you were filthy and we are eager to eat" she stuck out her tongue, her mother merely raised an eyebrow at the petulant display.

"Where are my manners?" she wiped the palm of her hand on the front of her robe and held it out "Bellatrix Black, nice to meet you"

He took the offered hand, it was soft and warm, her eyes, although dark, had a certain warmth to them too, he managed to stutter out his name and then she took the seat beside him.

Harry kept stealing glances at the young woman next to him, she was quick to laugh, she had a sharp tongue and a wicked sense of humour, the chatter amongst the sisters was amusing, the occassional tutting from Druella notwithstanding.

His stomach was still doing cartwheels, he had expected a much tougher barrage of questions from the three sisters, perhaps that was part of being a pure-blood, courtesy instilled in them from birth, everytime he reminded himself where he was and what was happening he hoped it was all just a bad dream, and then food arrived and he'd never felt hungrier in his life.

Ron would have given up body parts for a breakfast spread that looked as good as this, Molly Weasley might still hold the title of best cook, but this was definitely a contender, just thinking about Ron and his family brought an intense feeling of sadness, he reasoned things would be better with a full stomach. There was a platter of bacon, succulent sausages, perfectly fried eggs, golden pancakes, fried bread and toast, black pudding, mushrooms, fried tomatoes, a tureen of beans, tea, coffee and several fruit juices.

Cygnus loaded his plate and when finished everyone else followed suit, another tradition Harry supposed, Druella, Andromeda and Narcissa helped themselves to a little bit of everything, Bella, on the other hand, loaded up with everything in large quantities and began wolfing it down, with a small amount of admiration he helped himself and tucked in.

Cygnus pushed his chair out and stood, he kissed his wife and his daughters in turn, he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and asked him to seek him out when he was finished, equally worried and intrigued, he agreed, before he departed he told him to call on Noc, the elf would take him to his study.

If anyone else at the table was even remotely curious as to why he wanted to talk to Harry they didn't show any sign. The breakfast table talk soon came round to clothes and shoes, the latest fashions in the choice boutiques of diagon alley, He was full to bursting and still struggling with his thoughts, it was Andromeda who pulled him out of his reverie, they were heading out into the grounds to play Quidditch and once he'd finished up with their father, he was invited to join in, for some inexplicable reason this lifted his spirits. He thanked Druella for a fabulous breakfast, she rose gracefully and kissed him on each cheek, he swallowed hard. The directions to Cygnus' study washed over him and he wandered out of the room in a semi daze.

Standing alone in the main hall he tried in vain to recall where he needed to go next, in the end he just called for Noc and was ushered through a door without so much as a word. The office was reasonably sized, the furniture was functional but undoubtably expensive, made of solid wood, Cygnus placed a pile of papers to one side and regarded Harry over the top of his reading glasses.

"Have a seat my boy"

"Thank you Sir, for everything you've done"

"Harry, I'm not sure I know where to begin, I'm quite an authority on the sands of time, second only to Eloise Mintumble, by the look on your face you've never heard of her, well it matters not, ultimately, in this time we possess none of the sand, you are stuck, I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I just want you to be aware, thankfully I'm in a position where I can make it pretty easy for you to blend in"

"Thank you"

"I a also want to apologise for making up that story over breakfast, my girls are pretty good and with a percieved tradgedy in your life, well, they won't try and question you too much, should make things easier for you in that regard, in the meantime, don't be so glum, something will turn up, I'm a resourceful man and my contacts are extensive, you know my family in your time?"

"Yes"

"I saw it in your eyes when I brought you here, I saw fear, obviously I can't ask you for details about your time, the keeper of prophecies is a terrifying witch" he smiled a little to ease the mood "do you know Dru and I?"

Harry shook his head, Cygnus reclined in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest

"My daughters then?"

"Yes, Sir"

"Not for the reasons I'd like either, perhaps you'll be a good influence on them during your time here, you may go, I'd hate to deprive them of a few games of Quidditch, off you go lad, you've nothing to fear here, I'll try and find a way to get you back into Hogwarts without raising merry hell, what house were you in?"

"Gryffindor"

"A bloody lion, I should have guessed, you won't be able to be in that house, there's no telling who you might know, this is going to be difficult, but I like a challenge"

He walked Harry to the door, shook him warmly by the hand, summoned Noc and told him to escort him to the Quidditch pitch.

He heard the excited commotion before the pitch came into sight, Noc bowed and vanished leaving him alone, he quickly moved under the shadow of the towering hedge, he hoped it would keep him from view so he could marshal his thoughts and steel himself. Having experienced the effects of a time turner just two years ago helped him keep a cool head, setting aside all he knew about two of the three Black sisters was something else entirely, maybe the exhilaration of flying would blow away the fog in his mind, he could freak out later, this was becoming his mantra, take it one step at a time and freak out when alone.

He walked along the hedge and through a gap, he stood on the sidelines watching them diving and racing each other, someone exclaimed when they spotted him and he was surprised when Bellatrix alighted from her broom right next to him.

"Accio broom, they are only Cleensweeps but still pack a punch"

She handed him the broom as another came speeding across the pitch to her. She mounted it and kicked off from the ground, he followed suit and soon his worries were left behind, he relished the feeling of freedom and put the broom through its paces to get a feel for it and its ability and then joined the sisters in the middle of the pitch.

"You've got some serious talent"

"Thank you Andromeda"

"Pssh, call me Andy"

"That's settled then, you and Cissy against Harry and me"

"Get stuffed Bella, you don't get to pick the teams"

"Harry can choose" all eyes turned to Narcissa

"Fine! I suppose a challenge would make a nice change"

"Stop sulking Bella, losing once in a while will do you the world of good"

He was expecting a volatile reaction from the eldest Black, she just shrugged and laughed taunting them to bring it on

 _He hadn't watched them flying for long but he had a feeling the older girls underestimated their youngest sibling, he paired with Narcissa much to the surprise of the others. The game was simple, enchanted bludgers and a quaffle, first to 100 points, they took their postions. Game on!_


	3. Chapter 3 - The First Night

_A/N : I'm sorry the chapters are short and this was a long time coming, I've been helping a friend move house and with that and work, I've not had much time for anything, apolologies for any mistakes, I just wanted to get this out. Eventually I'll go back and correct/change bits anyway. I hope you like the new chapter. Thanks for all the follows, faves and reviews._

 **Chapter Three – The First Night**

The first thing he noticed was the absolute synchronicity of the two older sisters, the bludgers were more of an annoyance than a threat and he was already on the back foot, not really ever having to handle the quaffle and fly. The brooms had great acceleration and maneuverability but lacked the blistering speed of his Firebolt. He threw the quaffle to Narcissa who tore off down the left side of the pitch, both Andromeda and Bellatrix hot on her heels. Harry followed as fast as he could, Bella blocked her path allowing Andromeda to overtake and come at her head on, as Andi bore down on his partner, she appeared to panic and dropped the quaffle. His seeker instincts took over and he pushed forward into a steep dive, he caught the quaffle and pulled up sharply. With the 3 girls now behind him he accelerated towards the hoop and chucked it in for an easy 10 points.

After the easy goal things got competitive really quickly, despite being sisters they gave no quarter, they took serious advantage of his reluctance to give his absolute all. With the score line at 50 – 20 even Narcissa began to show her ruthless side, aimed mostly at Harry, she had no intention of losing, spurred on out of equal parts fear and respect for his team mate he counter attacked with renewed vigour.

He couldn't find a chink in his opponent's armour and frustration was getting the best of him, he flew as fast as he could towards Bellatrix, she swerved at the last minute as Harry dived, Andromeda tussled with her youngest sibling who managed to emerge from the fracas with the quaffle in hand, they had managed to pull it back and eke out a small lead, it stood at 70 – 60 and both teams were showing signs of fatigue.

Things had taken a turn for the desperate and tactics had become increasingly Slytherin, surreptitious wand use was now the norm, thankfully nothing that would seriously wound, a bright flash caught his arm as he made a dash for goal and an intense feeling of vertigo swept over him, the quaffle was dropped as he clung to his broom with a grim determination. The spell wore off and with only a miniscule pang of guilt he shot Andromeda with a tickling hex, he shot Narcissa a smug smile as the witch drifted lazily down to the ground laughing all the way.

At 90 points each skirmishes became more important than possession, scoring goals had long been forgotten, and that was when a loud bang reverberated all around and looking up towards the noise brought all proceedings to an abrubt end. The unmistakeable shape of Druella Black was marching in their direction with a look of thunder on her otherwise perfect features.

So caught up in their game they had missed the repeated summons for dinner, They were all shocked at how much time had passed, offering up sincere apologies to the Black matriarch seemed to melt the icy atmosphere a little, they walked sullenly behind her back towards the house. Lost in his thoughts, Harry wondered whether this was changing things in his time, would his appearance in this time even register with the sisters, would a recollection of this cause evil Bellatrix to stay her hand if she cornered his friends in the Ministry. Hermione would probably have done a wealth of research prior to receiving her time-turner and would no doubt have continued researching long after, what he wouldn't give to be able to talk to her right now.

Absent mindedly he ran his fingers through his messy hair, he had been sweating from exersion and hoped Mrs Black would allow them to freshen up before eating, all three girls were sporting the windblown look, he'd only ever seen Narcissa as an adult, with her immaculate clothing, and not a hair out of place. As he thought about the brief glimpses he'd had of her a dull throbbing had begun to emerge behind his eyes, he removed his glasses and rubbed them with the balls of his thumbs to no avail, he placed his glasses back on and adjusted them for comfort.

Back inside they were dispatched to their rooms to make themselves presentable, although no threats were levied at them, the promise of something awful, should they not be compliant, hung unspoken in the air, the girls, obviously used to this scurried off, their mother's face softened slightly as she looked at him, she summoned an elf to escort him, turned gracefully and walked away.

Halfway up the stairs in the main hall he felt light headed and grabbed the hand rail, the little elf carried on for several steps before realising they were no longer being followed.

"Is the young master ill? He looks awfully pale"

Harry motioned with his hand that he just needed a minute, he felt his nose running and wiped at it with his hand, there was a small amount of blood on the back of his hand, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had a nose bleed, perhaps during a fight with Dudley. The kindly elf produced a handkerchief and handed it to him, with each wipe there was less and less blood until just a few pink spots gave any indication something had happened.

The sensation passed almost as soon as it had begun and he felt like his old self, satisfied that his charge wasn't about to drop down dead, the elf continued on. In his room he pulled out fresh clothes and headed for the bathroom, he had never showered so fast in his life, he dressed quickly and made his way downstairs.

A door opened as he approached the stairs down to the entrance hall, and the distinctive mop of black curls came into view, her face split into a broad smile.

"Bloody good match, typical that mother would ruin it before we could finish, a rematch is in order"

He imagined that whichever part of his brain that dealt with the affect of his time travel was doing overtime as it worked hard to stop him losing his sanity, he decided that he could manage if he treated the younger sisters as seperate to the women they would become, good and evil, although in Andromeda's case she was just neutral, unpeturbed by his silence she carried on talking.

"I assume you'll be in Slytherin at Hogwarts, father said that you'd been home schooled, you fly really well, you should have been on my team, we would have destroyed Cissy and Andi"

Harry had never been truly comfortable around members of the opposite sex, the yule ball debacle was still fresh in his mind. Hermione didn't count, she was his friend and as close to a sister as he was ever likely to get. The Black sisters were incredibly beautiful, Bellatrix was the more obvious, she practically flaunted it, Narcissa was effortless, she reminded him of a Veela but without the magical ability to thrall all men, Andromeda was more like Hermione, pretty but deliberately understated. He really should try and add to the conversation instead of walking alongside her looking gormless.

"I think you fly superbly, do you play for your house?"

"Yes, I'm Slytherin chaser, what position do you play?" and there was that smile again.

"Seeker"

"I should have guessed, you are quite scrawny, no offense"

"Ah there you are! Hurry up, dinner is waiting"

"Yes mother"

Bella rolled her eyes and the sound of footfalls on the staircase heralded the arrival of the other two.

Dinner was a lavish affair, they were even allowed a small glass of elf wine, it was sweet, very easy to drink, impossible to pinpoint any one flavour and Harry suspected that it was pretty potent, he could feel how flushed his cheeks were.

When the dessert platters had been removed and the plates scraped clean he felt sated and sleepy, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the adults, the girls received kisses and hugs before being shooed off to their rooms, Harry got a peck on the cheek and a handshake, he bade Cygnus and Druella good night and ambled back to his room. The bed was refreshingly cool as he slipped beneath the sheets, they were soft and carressed his slightly feverish skin, no doubt an after effect of the alcohol, before long he was fast asleep.

Harry woke suddenly and gasped in pain, his body ached and he was cold, the surface he lay on was hard, he felt around for his wand, the feel of it in his hand brought him some comfort. He had a nagging sensation of deja vu, he gently touched his head, the lump was there, still tender, almost like it was fresh and his hair was matted with blood. Blie rose in his throat and dread settled deep in his guts, he felt around and pulled himself up, a thin beam of light showed him the outline of a door, this had already happened, was this a dream then? He staggered over to the door, gripped the handle and took a deep breath, the alarm blared loudly as it had before, he was prepared for it but it didn't make it any more pleasant.

This time he didn't collapse into a heap, he willed his eyes to adjust to the bright light and held his wand tight, the alarm ceased and the voices of two men grew louder as they approached. He took a second to pinch himself hard on the arm, all that did was hurt, the door opened and two people he recognised stepped inside, instead of being faced with a boy curled up tightly on the floor, they now stood staring at a boy who looked pretty beat up and pointing a wand in their direction.

The minister acted first and spelled to disarm, reflexively his shield charm bloomed from his wand tip and it bounced harmlessly away. The duel, if you could call it that, lasted mere seconds, he was too tired to mount a challenge and they had no intention of harming him, so there he was again, in a full body bind being examined and questioned.

The rest of it played out almost exactly the same as the first time, everytime he tried to analyse the events in any kind of depth he would find the beginnings of a headache forming behind his eyes, he had no idea if it was related to his accident or possibly a self defence mechanism. Thinking about that reminded him of how Ron had been after Hermione and he had gone back to save Sirius, he possessed all of the memories of both sets events, whereas Ron only remembered one set of events leading up to his stay in the hospital wing due to his broken leg.

There was no need for an elf escort as he surprised his hosts by finding his way around easily, after the initial tour, he also didn't see Narcissa that time, he wasn't sure if that was a significant change or not. The sisters were met in the same way and after his chat with Cygnus he ventured out into the grounds to play some quidditch. In a move that would have him crowned king of the snakes, he used his prior knowledge to deliver a crushing defeat to Bellatrix and Andromeda, he tried not to look too pleased with himself, Narcissa was doing enough of that for both of them, their opponents took their defeat badly but were complimentary about the manner of their defeat.

They had barely left the pitch before all animosity was forgotten and the talk turned to an animated blow by blow account of all the best moves of the game.

Druella stood in the entrance hall, pleased with their timely arrival, but less impressed with their dishevelled appearances. With a 15 minute deadline to get ready they didn't hang about, he bumped into Andromeda as he headed down to dinner and they chatted about flying and their favourite subjects as they walked to the dining room.

Harry ate until he was fit to burst, he took his time drinking the wine and the effect on him was greatly lessened, after the girls had headed off to bed and Druella had excused herself, he followed Cygnus out of the room. He moved swiftly and quietly for such a big man and harry had to call out to him, he paused halfway through the door to his study and regarded the young boy with curious eyes, Harry could have sworn there was a flicker of something in their depths, but he couldn't be sure.

"Could I please have a moment of your time?"

"Of course lad, come on in" he stepped aside and held the door open

The Black patriarch instructed Harry to make himself comfortable, he settled into the high backed, green leather chair and his host took his own chair and smiled genially at him. In the short time he'd spent in the company of Sirius, his god father seemed weighed down by the traditions of his family, all of the bitterness he'd harboured against his parents and their pure blood mania hadn't been lost on Harry. It was a dark side of the wizarding world he'd been quite ignorant of until the year Draco Malfoy called Hermione a 'filthy mudblood.' Voldemort was no different to many muggle despots who, over the years, had comitted atrocious acts against their felow man, and racism was nothing new, but there was something about the pure blooded ideology that seemed far more insidious to his mind.

Sirius had mentioned that Bella had been violent and unhinged, but he couldn't recall him ever voicing his opinion of her parents, something must have happened that triggered Bellatrix's decent into madness, but there was no evidence of it here, they seemed like any normal, loving family. He also couldn't explain his willingness to acquiesce to all the requests made of him. He had followed Cygnus blindly and all he had was a niggling feeling that he could trust him and that he would be safe.

As he wondered about his predicament his eyes wandered around the room, the portrait above the fireplace showed all five of the Black family, the girls were jostling each other while their parents looked on with a mix of amusement and growing impatience, they we a very photogenic bunch. The mantle had a few ornaments and trinkets adorning it, and most of the walls were covered in shelves containing vast amouts of books, most of the titles were in languages he couldn't comprehend, a few hinted at the dark arts and the rest seemed no more interesting than books on muggle tax law.

A clearing of the throat brought his gaze back to Cygnus, his eyes shone brightly and he smiled warmly before he spoke.

"I'm pretty sure you didn't follow me in here to admire my study, what's on your mind Harry?"

"I'm not sure, Sir, if you don't mind me asking, since I showed up in the department of mysteries, have you experienced anything strange?"

"Stranger than finding a teenage boy pointing his wand at me you mean?"

Harry looked abashed, "Yes, sorry about that" his large hand waved in dismissal.

"No need to apologise, if you must know, I have an acute feeling that some of our interactions have played out before, I can only guess at this point but somehow I'm a part of your timeline, I'd like to check something if I may"

The chair scraped loudly across the floorboards as he stood up, he took out his wand and Harry recoiled instinctively, he relaxed once assured that it was a simple, non invasive procedure. He uttered an incantation that Harry had never heard before, Cygnus' wand glowed brightly and began to emit a strange humming sound. As the wand was passed slowly over him, Harry was reminded of the 'wands' muggle security guards used in airports, the strange humming constantly changed in pitch, all the sounds seemed so random and the wand seemed to focus only on areas where he'd picked up skin abrasions. All of a sudden the wand stopped moving and the sound died completely, a small bottle was produced and he felt the wand tip pass along the back of his head followed by a tiny sting.

Sitting back in his chair and looking incredibly pleased, Cygnus held out the bottle for Harry to examine, it was firmly sealed and looked empty, he turned it over and over in his hands feeling foolish, hoping that he'd either see what he was missing or be told and put out of his embarrassment, then he did see something, smaller than a tiny bit of glitter, amazingly the bottle magnified the contents. Inside was a single golden grain of sand, embedded in his skin during the fight, that would explain the sting as it was removed.

"A single grain of time sand, I can only guess that you relived several hours over again" he nodded "each grain, as I understand it, has immense power, it is safe to assume that you would have relived that period of time over and over again while it remained within you, I shall keep this safe, it may hold the key to returning you to your own time"

"I had a headache and a nosebleed"

"Noc told me, I hope they will be temporary, a result of you being thrown so far back in time, you should go and get a decent nights sleep.

Those words were like the breaking of a dam, fatigue crashed over him and every limb felt cumbersome, he failed to stifle a yawn, he stood and said his goodnight.

"Harry, one last thing" he pulled the door shut again and forced his tired mind to pay attention "I think it would be safer for you to assume a different last name, I think Peverell will do, it's a very old family with links to many old and established families, I don't think anyone will pay it much attention, and I will push for you to be in Slytherin, the girls will take care of you and your association with us has its benefits shall we say"

He nodded and left the room, once out in the hall he fely as if a heavy weight had dropped into his gut, all the food he'd eaten felt like it was having a fight in his stomach. He made it back to his room without any incident and headed straight for the bathroom, he practically sprinted the final stretch and slid up to the toilet bowl on his knees.

Saliva hung from his mouth in thick ribbons, the stench of dinner revisited made him want to heave all over again but he knew he was empty. He fumbled for the handle and watched the foul contents disappear, he spat away as much of the viscous saliva as he could and pushed himself up onto shaking legs, he stumbled to the sink and turned on the tap, he splashed could water on his face and rinsed out his mouth, after he brushed and flossed, there was even a bottle of Mckinnon's Magical Mouth Wash, it was like scourgify in liquid form but at least he no longer had a sick taste in his mouth.

 _He returned to the room and peeled off his clothes, his skin was clammy but he didn't feel he had the energy to wash tonight. Once in pyjamas, he placed his glasses on the table beside his bed next to his wand and slipped beneath the covers._


	4. Chapter 4 - Aftermath

__A/N : apologies for taking ages to update, busy busy! This chapter I quite like, I hope you do too, I don't want to give too much away, but if you are confused, I'm sorry. I just want to show how Harry's predicament is changing things despite him not really doing much.__

 _ _Slight warning for stuff, but this is an M story, please read responsibly.__

 **Chapter Four – Aftermath**

As the light faded Hermione realised she was alone, the unconscious Death Eaters didn't count. A quick scan of the area turned up nothing but inert sands of time, and a few twisted bits of metal and shattered glass which once contained them, any further investigation was interrupted by the sound of running, heavy footfalls thundered past the room.

She stood up and gripped her wand tightly, the footsteps had faded but she followed in the direction she had heard them going. After walking cautiously down two corridors she came to a fork, as she weighed up her options a shout came from her right, the acoustics were distorted but it could have been Ginny or Luna.

With no other help forthcoming she took a deep breath and took off down the corridor towards the source of the noise. The sounds of battle grew louder, her approach became bolder knowing that her footsteps would be masked, round the next bend her heart jumped at the familiar shapes of her school friends.

She scared them half to death and after a brief hug the absence of one Harry Potter became apparent, Hermione just shook her head and tried to reassure them, in her experience with time magic, she was certain he was alive.

Deciding that they were vulnerable in their current position they agreed to move, Neville opened the first door he came to and they stepped into a large auditorium, stepped seating descended to a sandy floor with a raised dais, on this stood a crumbling archway, a tattered veil shimmered over the entrance but there was no breeze, the air in the room was hot and heavy.

Cautiously they approached the centre, grouped tightly together with all wands at the ready. Luna exclaimed in her usual, vague and airy way, they turned as one and watched a stream of black smoke fly to the top of the dais and take on the instantly recognisable form of Lucius Malfoy, all around the room other Death Eaters appeared in the same manner.

"Where is Potter?"

Dumbledore's Army kept their mouths shut, their eyes darted around the room counting their foes, with a flick of his cane Malfoy's mask dissolved revealing his face.

"Accio Prophecy"

Nothing happened. At his command black smoke enveloped each of them and apparated them away to the room's outer rim, Lucius had grabbed Luna, his wand pressed firmly against her neck. Hermione had the dubious pleasure of Fenrir Greyback, fingernails, yellow and filthy adorned the ends of his fingers which in turn were around her throat, she shuddered as he made lascivious comments and almost retched as he licked her cheek, she could feel that he was excited, his stench was overpowering. Neville looked on the verge of wetting himself as an unhooded Bellatrix held him tight about his neck with her wand at his temple. To distract herself from her captor, Hermione observed, Bellatrix looked uncomfortable, she kept moving her head as if troubled by a migraine, a subtle but noticeable tic to someone who'd seen her mother do exactly the same thing. She found this behaviour curious, the drawling voice of Malfoy senior carried around the room, and Luna repeating again and again that she had no idea where Harry was or the prophecy, she almost laughed out loud as she launched into a story about predictions her late mother had made, anger radiated off the impatient Death Eater.

Opposite, the dark witch held her wand up and it emitted a yellow glow that quickly faded, she shoved Neville forward and stunned him, Hermione winced as he crashed down the stairs before coming to a sudden stop when he hit the bottom.

"There's no one else here Lucius, has it crossed your mind that Dumbledore's brats are telling the truth?"

She swept the mass of thick black curls from her face, she looked deathly pale, her face pinched and drawn, she massaged her forehead with long, elegant fingers.

Lucius Malfoy was apoplectic with rage, no doubt annoyed at being dressed down by a woman in front of the other members of their group, before he could retort she had turned on her heel and strode purposefully from the room. Like any stereotypical bully he took his rage out on Luna, he struck her across the face, splitting her lip, Hermione felt a surge of pride, the Ravenclaw didn't make a sound, she also found it amusing that this pure-blood paragon resorted to physical violence, no better than a muggle thug.

He wrenched her back up to her feet by her hair, he shouted to his fellows, the captives were to be returned to Malfoy manor for interrogation. At that moment the room was lit up by pure white light, members of the Order appeared in a similar fashion to the Death Eaters, Moody, Lupin, Arthur Weasley, McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks. Duels broke out around the room and the children scattered, Tonks put herself between Luna and Lucius, his lips curled into a sneer. Hermione would have sworn that for a brief moment something wasn't quite right, like reality was unable to decide whether or not he existed.

In the lengthy tome she had been given upon receiving her time-turner, there had been a list of possible side effects. She had relayed these to Harry, she knew them by heart, time was changing, she could feel it, but Harry wouldn't be so stupid to actively meddle, she could only surmise that just being whenever he was, was enough to spark a change. McGonagall herself had stressed that even something minute could cause catastrophe, and even going back a few hours could be dangerous. She'd witnessed the time line adjusting itself within her own jaunts back in time, she hoped that this was such an event, an insignificant blip.

It turned out that her fears were unfounded, Tonks saw to that, Lucius had the upper hand, the young Auror was losing ground and he'd driven her to her knees. A strong shield charm allowed her to regain her footing but she stumbled on the uneven stones of the raised dais, her shoulder connected with Malfoy's sternum sending him backwards through the veil. With a slightly sick feeling in her stomach and from her vantage point in the arena, Hermione noticed that he did not emerge from the other side.

With their erstwhile leader vanquished the rest of the combatants fled.

Several hours later they were standing in the Headmaster's office, Madame Pomfrey was fussing around them. Snape stood in the corner glowering and looking more like an overgrown bat than usual, she noted that she'd never seen McGonagall's lips drawn so thin.

The Headmaster was seated, his crooked nose poked over the top of his fingers which he had held over his mouth, his blue eyes slowly examined them one by one.

"Can you tell me why you came to be inside the Department of Mysteries this evening?"

Neville spoke, with a degree of difficulty, he'd broken his nose, the nurse had fixed the break but it was still swollen.

"Harry told us that Sirius was in trouble, Vold...He Who Must Not Be Named had him"

"Did you not think to inform a teacher?"

"He said he'd told Professor Snape"

"He did but failed to wait for Severus to investigate, had this not been the case, he would have discovered that Sirius is still at Grimmauld place"

"Harry said he had tried contacting him there, there was no answer, and Umbridge was on the warpath"

"Ah yes, you can thank Kreacher for that, Sirius tripped over him on the stairs and broke his ankle, Kreacher was tending to him, as for Dolores Umbridge, she seems to be missing."

Hermione piped up "The last time we saw her she was being carried off by Centaurs, serves the hideous bigot right"

"Indeed, I'll ask Hagrid to talk to Firenze" she could have sworn there was a mischievous twinkle in those bright blue eyes. "Where were you when Harry disappeared?"

"In the time-turner room"

"Which leads me to the most important question, Where is Harry?" she heard what he had said and knew it was a rhetorical question and before her brain could catch up with her mouth, she blurted out "You mean When is Harry?"

"Miss Granger, I don't think this is the time to be blasé about the well being of your friend"

"It's ok Minerva, she's not wrong and the implications could be catastrophic."

The atmosphere was sombre, if anything were to happen to Harry would that prevent them defeating Voldemort, would they be able to bring him back to their time and in the meantime, what damage would be caused to the time line, would they even notice if people they knew were erased from existence.

Surprisingly, it was Snape who suggested that the weary students be allowed to return to their dorms, Dumbledore just nodded and then they were being chaperoned back to their common room by Pomfrey. When the door had clicked shut Dumbledore removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes and groaned, just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, fighting Tom had taken a lot out of him and now his return was public knowledge, the Ministry was in disarray and would tear itself apart unless they found a strong leader to replace the inept Fudge.

The headmaster stood up from his desk and walked over to the cabinet which contained his Pensieve. It's silvery light dabbled the walls, the image of Tom Riddle's snake like visage swirled within the bowl's foggy contents. The old wizard visibly sagged, he was certain that Tom wasn't in possession of the full prophecy, a small mercy. He took a handful of liquorice snaps from a bowl on a nearby table and placed several in his mouth, he picked up one of his many small, spindly magical curiosities and hurled it furiously at the wall, cursing loudly as he did so, both Severus and Minerva flinched at this brazen display of anger.

"Temper temper, Potter always was a law unto himself, and your propensity for playing games was never going to end well, he is just a boy Albus and your house of cards was made with an exploding snap deck"

"I've been against you using the boy as bait for one scheme or another for a long time, I'm in agreement with Severus. He who must not be named has made his return known, although I doubt he's happy about that, we have no idea where Harry is, I just hope you haven't pinned all your hopes on him, there is no guarantee we'll find out where he's gone or if we will find a way to bring him back. I don't need to remind you how dangerous it is to tamper with time magic"

Severus seemed just as shocked as Albus at the scottish witch's outburst, she shot them both a steely glare and stormed out of the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore walked back to his chair and sat down heavily as if the enormity of it all was weighing him down. Snape swept into the chair opposite and conjured 2 crystal tumblers and a decanter full of amber liquid, ice chinked against the sides of the glasses as the drink was poured. He pushed the first glass away from him and took hold of the second, he took a large swig after swirling it around a few times and exhaled at the burn of the strong spirit.

"Minerva may be right, she is right, and I don't blame you for your feelings either, I had a plan and I thought I had time, the folly of old age, I'm going to need you now more than ever, and Tom will need you too"

Dumbledore drained his glass as the Potions master stood.

"I will uphold my end of the bargain and I expect you to use every ounce of your intellect and magical knowledge to keep yours"

Their eyes met and they each nodded in turn.

Bellatrix was amazed at how well her sister was taking the news of her husband's death, she did have a vague air about her, like she was day dreaming, she looked for tell tale signs that her mental state wasn'r right, she watched her stare into the middle distance but the hand that clasped the wine glass was absolutely still. The dark witch didn't know or particularly care how her nephew had taken the news, her headache was all encompassing, after the idiots had returned from the Ministry and informed her of events, she had sought her sister out and delivered the news, she had expected more than "Oh" some part of Bella needed more of a reaction to such news, even the news that it was their niece who was responsible failed to stir her.

Utterly perplexed by her sister's behaviour, she had left the drawing room to retire to the dark comfort of her quarters, hoping that a lie down, perhaps even a nap might allieviate the pain inside her skull. She awoke hours later to the familiar pain of being summoned, she scraped her nails along the dark mark on her forearm. She strode purposefully through the corridors of Malfoy manor, her heels clicked loudly on the wood and marble floors, she reached the large double doors leading to the dining room and entered.

The devastation was total, she kept her face neutral, the dark lord stood at the back of the room like a guest observing the view, only instead of a window it was a huge hole blown through the wall. The furniture was reduced to splinters, the paintings and wall paper were charred, the walls that hadn't got holes in them lacked glass in the windows. Bizarrely, there was an untouched bottle of firewhiskey on the mantle, not one to turn her nose up at good fortune, she collected it on her way past, pulled out the cork with her teeth and drank deep.

Despite his obvious rage he sounded completely calm when he commanded her to approach.

"I was informed that you left the Ministry before the prophecy could be obtained"

"Yes my Lord, there was no one else present outside of the room we were in, and Lucius beating that Ravenclaw girl wasn't going to change that, I grew tired of his ineptitude"

"I don't care for your tone Bellatrix, Lucius paid for his mistakes with his life, so I'm told"

"I was told he was shoved through the veil by my niece"

"I trust your sister won't become a liability"

"She will be fine, I'll take care of it"

Bella didn't like the implications behind his comment, Narcissa wasn't stupid, there was no love lost between her and Lucius, Draco was her weakness. Harry Potter was at the Ministry, she had seen him with her own eyes in the room of prophecies, Lucius was monologuing, she had grown bored and stepped out of the shadows to inject a little fear into the situation. That was when the Weasel girl had brought the shelves crashing down, after that they'd been forced to split up.

The irritating brat was a Griffindor so there was no way he would have abandoned his friends, yet the spell was conclusive, there was no one else in the Ministry, the fact that none of the Death Eaters had no explanation for their Lord was also worrying.

The hissing quality of her master's voice didn't register until he spoke her name sharply and berated herself for the way she had involuntarily flinched. Her lapse into thought hadn't gone by unoticed and he asked, quite innocently, whether she had knowledge of the boy's whereabouts. The familiar sensation of someone probing her mind caused her body to go rigid, for some inexplicable reason, she didn't want him inside her head, despite having nothing to hide. The intrusion was brief, the headache must be worse than she thought as it was definitely the pain that drove him out. The dismissal was immediate, with an order to get rest, he had no use for her if she was unable to function, she bowed stiffly and left the room.

Back in the dark solitude of her rooms she felt slightly more relaxed, a click of her fingers, loud in the silence, brought an elf with a generous measure of firewhiskey. The weather outside was bleak, the wind howled outside, endless grey days were broken only by a constant permeating drizzle, just like Azkaban, the hefty price for unleashing the dementors. Bella looked out of the huge ornate window without seeing, her forehead pressed against the glass, both grateful for the soothing coldness.

 _Memories swam in front of her minds eye, things forgotten and half remembered, some were alien to her, but they were her memories so they must have happened. Fatigue reared its ugly head and she yawned so hard her jaw clicked painfully. The drink was knocked back and set on the dressing table, she disrobed and threw her clothes haphazardly across a chair, the bed was cool on her skin and she delighted in the sensation, sleep soon followed and dreams, dreams of herself, two girls and a boy playing quidditch._


	5. Chapter 5 - Realisation

**Chapter Five : Realisation**

As the Autumn term approached Harry became increasingly anxious, he would inevitably recognise people, even though they'd have no knowledge of him. Being in Slytherin had it's own problems too, no doubt many Death Eaters would be in attendance, he wasn't sure he would be able to contain his urge to hex them all. Then there were the teachers, he was certain Mcgonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and Dumbledore would all be there, would seeing him alter their memories in the future, maybe that would be a good thing. If they had no idea what time period he was in, would knowledge of him in the seventies be useful to them, could it help them bring him home?

The manor felt oppressive at the best of times, but once the girls had headed back to school, the feeling intensified tenfold, they would occasionally floo back at weekends, but mostly he was the master of his own entertainment. It was easy to forget the situation he was in and in the privacy of his rooms or secluded parts of the vast gardens he was unable to prevent the tears from falling. Sometimes he could turn his despair into determination, perhaps he could do some good here, possibly even prevent some of the tragedies that had ripped apart so many lives, realistically he knew that any kind of tampering would have disastrous repercussions.

In the moments when boredom was unavoidable, he would take himself into the vast library and look for anything that might help him. Hermione would have been so proud, he found an entire section of handwritten journals that had been written by Black family ancestors, they contained potions and spells, some were incredibly dark magic, he was surprised to find detailed warnings about their nature in the margins. There were as many harmless books as there were dangerous, this did nothing to help his internal moral struggle.

For the most part, the Blacks were a normal familiy, as normal as you can be with unlimited wealth and a heritage that went back to Morgan Le Fay. This wasn't what caused him the most trouble, Sirius had nothing nice to say about any facet of his family, maybe that was just his experience, and the burning hatred for his cousins came from their chosen path and support for Voldemort.

Cygnus was intimidating all of the time, but could almost be referred to as jolly, Druella doted on him, it was becoming harder and harder to stay guarded, he found himself enjoying it, she obviously would have loved a son of her own but that diminished none of the fierce pride she had for her daughters.

Laying awake at night, he felt like an epiphany was just out of reach, tantalisingly close, but elusive. He was sleeping better, the unfamiliar had become familiar, he should be more concerned about how he'd return to his own time, but what if this was a chance to do something amazing, in his time he knew he would have to make huge sacrifices, that was his burden from the moment he survived the killing curse. That night he fell asleep with the knowledge that he was in control of his life for the first time and he could choose which sacrifces to make.

The next day dawned bright and warm, feeling refreshed, he showered and dressed. He joined Druella for breakfast and made small talk, he would be taking a trip to Diagon Alley with her for his school things later that week, the thought excited him, like the first time he'd gone there with Hagrid.

As he left to walk the grounds she called out to him, Cygnus and Bella were home and out there somewhere, he nodded and walked the labyrinthine corridors to the back door. Instinctively dodging the venomous tentacular, he headed deeper into the maze of hedges, waist high walls, water features and flower beds. He wandered aimlessly until a sound drifted to him on the wind, pulled from his daydream he listened intently, he heard it again, it was a voice punctuated by the sound of spell casts.

Knowing that he had little to fear, and forewarned that he wouldn't be alone out here, he moved towards the sound, stopping every now and then to track the sounds.

Drawing closer, it was clear that a duel was in progress, Bella was, after all, one of the most accomplished duelists the magical world had ever seen, so it made sense that she would have to practise. So as not to startle anyone, he crept up on a clearing he'd only visited a few times previous, the scene in front of him stopped Harry more effectively than any magic he could think of.

Cygnus was bearing down on Bellatrix, she was scrabbling backwards towards her wand, her clothes were torn and she was bleeding, Cygnus wasn't his usual immaculate self, his clothes were singed, as was his neatly trimmed facial hair, he had a cut on his temple that ran down and across his cheek.

Sliently cast spells threw up chips of gravel, Bella twisted away from them as best she could and lurched for her wand, her shield charm flared into life and allowed her to regain her footing. She was limping and Harry could see blood on her leg through a rip in her dress. The resemblance she bore to her future self was enough to set his heart thudding painfully against his ribs as his blood turned to ice.

Spells cracked and smoked as she parried her father's onslaught, silent casting was something only a few could manage in Harry's time, he had no idea what was being used. Her protection crumbled under a vicious barrage, she apparated a few feet away and screamed Crucio, Cygnus hit the floor jerking, blood foaming on his lips. Everything stopped and he realised that he'd shouted out, as they looked at one another, Cygnus stood and wiped his mouth.

Harry turned and ran, the speed wouldn't be sustainable for long and the direction was instinctual, once the stitch in his side forced him to stop, he slumped to the ground. He took out his wand and crawled a few metres to lean back against a nearby wall, a paler than normal Bellatrix walked around the corner, he levelled his wand at her and when he saw she was unarmed he let his arm fall down onto his lap. Taking that as a good sign, she crossed to the wall and sank down next to him, legs straight out in front of her.

"I'm guessing that looked pretty bad, huh?"

"You used an unforgivable on your Dad"

"Well, he did break my arm" seeing the look of abject horror on his face she quickly added "and healed it right away"

Having failed to make light of the injury she lapsed back into silence, the birds were loud in this part of the garden, this was not the time to be distracted so she started talking just to fill in the space.

"I know it looked bad, but that's how we duel, just because we're girls doesn't mean we can't learn to fight like the boys, my father doesn't want us to be victims, duels aren't nice, real duels I mean, your opponent isn't going to politely announce each spell and the exact manner in which they will hurt or kill you. I can completely throw off the Imperious curse now, Crucio hurts so badly, I'm not saying you get used to it, but if you've never felt it how can you prepare?"

He chuckled, it sounded unnatural to his ears, some of what she had said made sense, it reminded him a lot of lessons with Alastor Moody the previous year, she was looking at him curiously.

"I think I understand, the things you said just reminded me of someone, I can shake off the Imperious curse too, and I have felt the Cruciatus, I just freaked out, you were both bleeding and then you cast the unforgivable"

"They are incredibly hard spells to cast, it's why I couldn't cast it silently, and I'm pretty sure my Dad pretends I'm hurting him a lot more than I actually am, although when he fell he bit his lip"

She giggled then, it was strange, sat, having a normal conversation with the most feared witch in Britain. He reminded himself that she wasn't that witch yet, but within the next ten years something would set her on a path that would lead her to Azkaban. Voldemort would be in his mid 40's about now, when would their paths cross? Would he be here when it happened? He'd often wondered how he'd made himself and his cause known to the pureblood elite, did he just go door to door, meeting with the heads of the families to test the water, surely he risked being exposed if they didn't share in his ideals.

"Harry?"

He blinked and turned to look at the eldest Black, she was stunning even dishevelled and sat so close he could feel her arm brushing against his, he felt his cheeks grow hot

"You were miles away, what were you thinking about?"

"Tom Riddle"

"Who's that, a friend of yours?"

"Not exactly, it doesn't matter"

He stood up and stretch and offered her his hand, she had a firm grip and he pulled her up.

"Dad told me to find you and head back to the house, but before we do, please can we try Imperio, just for fun"

He struggled to associate total control over another person as fun, but relented under her enthusiastic gaze. It was a relatively easy spell to cast, but felt that there was probably more to it, he wasn't at all surprised when she broke free, she urged him to try again and gave him pointers, on his third attempt he made her dance a jig before she broke free with peals of laughter and he laughed along.

He wasn't looking forward to his turn, but it seemed only fair, an overwhelming feeling of serenity swept over him, Bella's voice was distorted, as if she was inside a tunnel, and then he had an inexplicable desire to kiss her, looking back, it was probably the shock of the situation that broke the spell rather than his own mental powers.

She almost looked disappointed, there was a playful glint in her dark eyes and when he asked what she was playing at, she threw her head back and roared with laughter.

"I thought you knew who we were, the noble and most ancient house of Black, it may shock you to hear that I have quite the reputation, I don't exactly have a queue of boys lining up to kiss me, I thought it might be fun" she shrugged "my beauty is intimidating, my family, my wealth, my magical power and abilities, the list goes on"

She waved her hand around airily and deftly twirled her crooked wand through her fingers, after letting out a small sigh she suggested they head back to the house. Bella took his arm and linked it through hers and practically dragged him along.

Upon reaching the house, Cygnus called out to them, he apologised to Harry for not mentioning to Druella their intentions, she certainly would have warned him. He was pleased that Bella had explained, and after giving the young wizard a heftly pat on the shoulder, collected his crystal tumbler of firewhiskey and retired indoors.

Dinner wasn't for a few hours, Bella was persuaded to join them, she excused herself to change out of her clothes and freshen up, on a whim, Harry called out to her, suggesting a friendly game of wizard's chess, she told him there was no such thing as a friendly game with that same mischievious glint in her eye but agreed and told him to wait for her in the library.

As he entered the library his eye was drawn to a cosy little area he hadn't noticed before, it was well lit, the table had an ancient and seriously impressive chessboard placed on it, two bottles of butterbeer and the comfiest looking bean bags he had ever seen. They were so good in fact, that he let out an audible sigh of pleasure when he sat down, in all his time here, he had only ever seen Noc, he had assumed the place had a veritable army of house elves and felt a small twinge of guilt, S.P.E.W. was never going to garner the support Hermione wanted, and he knew that her heart had been in the right place, but he could see the appeal of house elves, this must have been done by them, which meant they'd listened in and made the preperations, it was weird and unnerving, but to the Blacks it was probably expected.

A tiny voice called out to him "Hey, you there! Boy" startled he followed the source of the noise to an angry looking knight on his side of the board

"Who, prey tell, is your opponent?"

"Bella, I mean Bellatrix"

"Oh dear, well I trust you aren't a complete dunderhead at least"

"I can play"

"Most people can play" he said dismissively and then began giving his troops a pep talk, Harry wasn't overly happy about the long and grovelling apology the knight made to the King regarding their upcoming defeat, he held his tongue.

The doors to the library swung open and Bellatrix trotted in, her hair had been washed and hung down over her shoulder. She was barefoot, dressed in black, naturally, it was like a muggle rock band T-shirt, but the band was called 'The Screaming Banshees' with loose fitting black pyjama trousers. She jumped onto the bean bag and arranged herself cross legged before cracking her knuckles.

The chess pieces greeted her with much enthusiasm, his own looked on with sympathy, they cracked open their butterbeers and clinked them together and began. His experience of playing with Ron had stuck with him to some degree, he wasn't as terrible as he'd imagined, the pieces did as they were told for the most part, unlike his first game where they staged a full on mutiny.

Bella emerged victorious but over several games he could console himself with the fact that it wasn't a complete slaughter. The knight even congratulated him on battles well fought and wished him better luck for next time.

They lounged in the bean bags and drank butterbeer whilst chatting about random stuff, their brains pleasantly warm and fuzzy, until the summons for dinner came. Cynus was sat at the head of the table showing no signs of the duel, clothing and beard were as immaculate as ever. Druella served from the abundant platters, clearly enjoying having the children present. The following day they would be going to Diagon Alley, Bella wished she could join them, but had a very unforgiving timetable of lessons that day.

Harry sat and ate in silence, feeling the outsider once more as family business was discussed, a string of Ministry events were approaching, that Druella was compelled to attend with her husband, the Black Christmas ball, which was quite the event on the social calendar by all accounts. His ears pricked up at the mention of the LeStrange family, realising that he'd ceased all movement he pushed the food around his plate and speared a few morsels on his fork. As he raised the food to his mouth he chanced a look at Bella, her mood had obviously darkened and she wore a look of resigned disgust.

Her father wore a tight lipped expression and Druella looked uncomfortable, Bella was hardly jumping for joy, if they were so against the union, why go through with it? Arranged marriages were all par for the course amongst the pure-blood elite, but there was no benefit if you only had daughters to marry off, perhaps it was the LeStrange family in dire need of this.

It was at that point the knut dropped, Andromeda ran off with Ted Tonks, Narcissa was promised to Malfoy, although to her credit, she made it work, the tipping point must have been with Bellatrix. He had no clue what would cause her to go so completely off the rails, maybe she was a little warped to begin with, in his limited time in her company, he had a feeling there were a great many things going on beneath the surface.

He shovelled the rest of his food into his mouth and swallowed, he politely asked to be excused and once free of the dining room he took off for his room. In the bathroom he removed his glasses and splashed water onto his face. As he contemplated what he was about to do he noticed his hands were shaking, he would have to wait until Cygnus was alone in his study, then he would tell him... what exactly? It was seriously risky saying anything about the future, but if he could just say enough for him to seriously reconsider Bellatrix's marriage, perhaps the damage would be minimal and the changes would be worth it. It was easy to envisage a world where the Black family weren't synonymous with evil, a Bellatrix on the side of the light, or perhaps there wouldn't be a wizarding war at all.

If the latter happened would he exist alongside a version of himself with both his parents alive, would it even matter, he'd be approaching middle age if he lived up to the point he travelled back in time. No wonder no one messed around with time, he had the strangest feeling that as long as he existed as he was now, things would be OK.

 _He decided that he'd go for a chat with Cygnus Black, as an authority on time he may be able to find answers to some of his worries, and possibly loopholes, he also wanted to find out if there were any books on the subject, if all went well he would plunge right in and offer to help save the Black family from it's inevitable doom._


	6. Chapter 6 - The Meeting

_A/N : I sincerely hope you like this chapter, I may have tried to plug too many loopholes and created a convoluted mess. I hate to beg for reviews, but if you read and want to make suggestions, give me ideas, this is all for the good, I find it really helpful. I have a rough idea of where I'm going with this, but as I learned from my first fan fic, a random idea in a review gave me some of the best chapters and i'm so grateful to those who took the time to comment. Right enough of that, new chapter, enjoy!_

 **Chapter 6 – The Meeting**

The nights had begun drawing in, Autumn was well on its way, the manor was bathed in twilight as Harry silently moved through the empty hallways. This act made him give himself another mental shake, he knew this place, it had become familiar, he didn't need lights, it wasn't exactly dark, but most people would have preferred a little illumination.

He descended the grand staircase and strode purposefully towards Cygnus' study and knocked sharply on it three times. A loud voice bade him enter, the door swung open, he stepped inside and closed it quietly, as he turned to wish his host a good evening he realised that there was another person in the room and in an instant his blood turned to ice and his stomach took a dive.

The man was gaunt, borderline unhealthy, with startling crimson eyes. If Harry hadn't had the misfortune of meeting a memory of him during his second year, he doubted he would have recognised Tom Riddle at all. Much of the once handsome features remained, there was something unnatural about him that the young wizard couldn't quite put his finger on.

The silence seemed to go on and on, for a fraction of a second he considered pulling out his wand and fixing the future once and for all, and then Tom Riddle smiled, it wiped away that thought, a simple act managed to humanise him, shame about those eyes. Thankfully Cygnus spoke and all attention turned to him.

"Harry my boy!"

"G-g-g-g" he coughed and cleared his throat "good evening, Sir"

"This is Tom Riddle"

He stood and gestured towards the man who would be Voldemort, Harry muttered out a greeting but couldn't bear to look him in the eye, no one acted as if anything was amiss.

"So this must be your young ward, a pleasure, and an honour for you to be taken in by such a noble and ancient house"

"Yes sir" he put all his effort into making his voice sound natural but couldn't stem the tremor in his hands, as soon as he noticed he thrust his hands deep into his pockets, a small comfort was gleaned as he gripped his wand in his right hand.

It was apparent that whatever business they were discussing was concluded, if he had come here earlier would he have heard something important he wondered, also, had he left it later, he wouldn't have any clue that Voldemort had visited at all. This might be actually work in his favour, he'd been wracking his brain for a way to turn the conversation towards the events in his own time. He observed the two men, he wasn't certain but Cygnus looked ill at ease, his jaw looked tight and the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Voldemort stood elegantly and bowed to the Black patriarch, he smiled at Harry as he turned and held out his hand. Sucking up a breath and calling on some Griffindor courage, he took the hand and shook it, the skin was cool and a little clammy, it made his own crawl. Noc appeared at the master's request and led Tom away. Harry let out the breath he was holding, he could feel his heart hammering behind his ribs, a cold drop of panic dripped down his spine, what if Riddle had looked inside his mind, would he have noticed the intrusion, he told himself that there was no reason for him to delve into his mind, he's just a boy and affiliated with the Blacks, whether this was true or not didn't matter, it was something to cling to.

Cygnus asked him to sit, then again, on the third call of his name he responded, he sat. Shrewd eyes looked at him critically.

"Drink?"

"Yes please"

"Good lad, I think I might have something with a bit of a kick to it"

An ice cold butterbeer was placed in front of him, he watched the condensation run down the bottle and pool on the desktop. Cygnus returned with a firewhiskey on the rocks, he sat down heavily in his chair, placed his dragon hide booted feet on the desk and leaned back, after a measured swig he let out a small sigh of appreciation.

"I'm glad you came to see me, I did a little bit of research at the ministry, there is a Potter at Hogwarts, and you can trace their family all the way back to the bloody Peverells, I've decided that you'll have to attend as a Black, a distant relation. It's not ideal, I was hoping to draw as little attention to you as possible, on the plus side, no one will give you any trouble"

He let out his trademark bark-like laugh, Harry managed to smile weakly

"Anyway, I'm assuming you aren't skilled in Legilimancy and didn't come here to question me about that, so what's on your mind?"

"That man..."

"I couldn't help notice your reaction to him, you know him, or you will know him?"

He nodded and sipped at the butterbeer, he held the bottle in both hands to keep them occupied.

"That is a very strange young man, between you, me and the walls, understand?"

"Yes sir"

"Good. He proclaims that he has political aspirations, he is rallying the pure-blood families, the Sacred 28. Lots of talk about a return to traditions, grand ideas and plans for a new age of Wizardry and Witchcraft. He sure talks like a politician, and by that I mean he says an awful lot without actually saying anything"

He stopped talking to drink, he took his feet off the desk and pulled himself closer, he rested his elbows on the desk and cradled his drink in his huge hands, the ice clinked gently against the crystal tumbler. Harry waited with baited breath, unable to believe his good fortune at the direction of this conversation.

"A few things caught my attention, and I think, even without your unique knowledge, that you'd be able to read between the lines. Like how we need to step out of the shadows and redress the status quo, a more selective and intense magical curriculum to secure our magical future, I won't insult your intelligence by paraphrasing everything he said. The thing that worries me most is a glaring parallel to a muggle leader, he had a similar idea and ended up exterminating over twelve million people, men, women, children, magical and muggle, such a needless waste of life"

"Does he have support?"

"Of course, you've probably heard the names and I doubt they'd surprise you, Malfoy, Nott, Lestrange, Carrow, Rosier, Yaxley, Bulstrode, Parkinson, Flint and Travers" he placed his drink down and counted them off on his fingers as he went "None have ever approved of muggleborns, and some don't even bother to hide the fact"

"What about the Blacks? Your family motto is Tojours Pur" Harry was surprised at the boldness of his outburst.

Cygnus didn't look angry, he took a swig of firewhiskey and looked as though he was trying to think of an explanation.

"Well that dates back to Morgan Le Fay, that's what we were brought up hearing, Always bloody pure, HA!, like pure-bloods have never produced a squib, it's a fallacy. True, they probably hush it up, I'm sure some have taken drastic measures to keep their supposed failures a secret. Eventually there won't be anyone left to marry and the stupid bastards will slowly die out, I'll tell you, being half blood won't look so bad when that day comes"

"Riddle is a half blood"

That made Cygnus take notice, he looked at Harry with almost renewed clarity

"Is there something you want to tell me lad?"

"Yes, but if I do there will be no way back, and if I'm honest, I'm terrified about what will happen to the timeline"

"If I told you that time will take care of itself, how would you know I wasn't telling you what you wanted to hear so that you tell me all you know?

"I, er, well I wouldn't would I"

"Then I suppose we will have to trust each other, I've seen your reactions towards my daughters, I've fretted about that the entire time that you've been here, nothing is more important than family to me, and I would do anything to keep them safe. As for time, Wizards have messed around with the sands of time for eons, I'm not suggesting that everyone should have free reign, but the world has survived"

"People might die, or be unborn"

"True, and although it sounds cold, you probably won't know, but don't quote me on that"

He sagged into the chair and swirled the contents of the butterbeer around before drinking the rest of it in one gulp.

"You named 10 of the most muggle hating families, right?" the man nodded solemnly "If you know this why would you offer Narcissa's hand to the Malfoys and Bellatrix's to the Lestranges?"

"A lack of suitable heirs elsewhere and complicated politics"

"That seems a poor excuse, what about love?"

"Love? Know all about that do you?" Harry's cheeks flushed but Cygnus carried on "The family names hold the power, Druella was a Rosier, thankfully she shares my views and we were lucky, but it was our duty"

"Half Bloods are a lot more common in my time, muggleborns are as capable as any pure-blood"

"I don't doubt it, but some traditions are much harder to shake off, we can argue about archaic traditions until dawn, but that isn't why you're here, I can't promise that whatever you tell me won't cause ripples, or waves, or a bloody tsunami through time, but there is something in your time that is so bad, you're weighing up the options, it's now or never lad"

As he searched for the words the drinks refilled and an elf brought some snacks, once he began talking it became easier. He started at Halloween 1981, he spared no details when talking about the night his parents were killed, betrayed by their friend. How the Hogwarts gamekeeper had plucked him from the wreckage of the house and delivered him to his Aunt and Uncle's house.

Cygnus only stopped him to see the scar for himself, he was looking considerably paler.

Briefly he talked about his muggle upbringing, and when asked about his own dislike of muggles he countered that non-magicals had a fear of what they don't understand and pure-bloods were no different in that respect.

Talking about Narcissa and Andromeda wasn't as harrowing as he'd first imagined, he conceeded that he didn't really have much information about their lives, there was a glimmer of pride in his eyes, as far as he was concerned Narcissa had done the best she could given the circumstances and Andromeda married for love, and that made Cygnus laugh out loud, it made Harry jump. He apologised and explained that Andi got her free spirited streak from her mother, this was not the reaction he'd been expecting, he'd anticipated at least a little anger for Andromeda marrying Ted Tonks, health and happiness Harry, that's what mattered, he said, the sentiment wasn't lost on him, but it was still a surprise.

Completely enraptured by Harry's tale, he eagerly asked after Bellatrix, as Harry's face fell, so did Cygnus'

"So, don't leave me hanging, what about my Bella?"

"She and Rodolphus were Voldemort's staunchest followers, after he failed to kill me and his body was destroyed, they went looking for him, with Rabastan and Barty Crouch Jr. They tortured two Aurors into insanity, the used the Cruciatus curse and that curse was synonymous with Bella, it's her signature move. They put up no resistance when the Aurors arrived and she spent 14 years in Azkaban, she'd just been broken out a few months before I ended up here"

The strong, proud man in front of Harry just seemed to deflate, there was anger under the surface, as his mutterings grew louder, Harry realised the anger was aimed at his percieved failures.

"I taught her everything to keep her safe, to make her strong and empowered, I wouldn't marry her off to someone like LeStrange without her being able to hold her own against him, you must believe me"

He was pleading, and Harry believed him.

The hour was growing late, he'd detailed his entire first year at Hogwarts and Cygnus stared on dumbfounded as the events surrounding the chamber of secrets were revealed. He briefly described his experiences during his third year, answering a few questions regarding Hermione's time-turner and their encounters with themselves. It was Harry's turn to ask a few time related questions, he was rightly concerned about what would happen if Dumbledore managed to pull him back to his time, this turned out to be another unknown, and one of the many reasons Cygnus was so excited to be heading up the team tasked with studying the time-turners, for Harry, his conscience was unable to rest due to all the uncertainties, he didn't want to be responsible for anyone's unbirth, whether he knew of it or not.

When he took a different approach to his predicament Cygnus went and collected an item from his dresser, a small glass vial, he handed it to Harry, it contained the stray sand of time. He felt strangely calm despite voicing his biggest fear, which was living out his life in this time, it felt like giving up.

The theory was that the time line would split and Harry would continue forging his own path even when he caught up to the time of his disappearance. It was enough to make his head hurt, if things changed his parents could live, but they wouldn't be his parents. Neville's family could be whole again, or the universe could cease to be, he felt sick.

Cygnus did his best to explain the ongoing theories, Wizards and Witches had tampered with time, the results were poorly documented, but seemed to be localised to the persons who had travelled back, they had essentially ruined their own time line, he'd managed to work out from his own studies that between 30 – 40 people had died, and that was when laws had been drafted to prevent it happening again.

He told Harry that he believed the sands attuned themselves to the individual using them, and if his theory was correct, it would explain how Harry had relived a day and been able to alter the way events played out.

When prompted to continue with his story he did so, the reinstating of the Tri-Wizard tournament diverted the course of the story for a good hour, and despite the gravity of the situation, Harry did enjoy talking about it, right up to Voldemort's return. Cygnus handed him a handkerchief, he gently pressed for the names of the followers who'd answered the call. As the clock struck midnight the story had come right round to the night they met, they sat in silence, Harry felt completely drained, his head was throbbing a little.

"So what happens now?"

"I've no idea lad, we're in uncharted territory, obviously I'm going to call off Bella's wedding, maybe that will be enough" he let out a huge sigh and heaved himself up out of his chair, as he poured himself another drink he turned back to face Harry "All my memories seem intact, I guess that's a good sign, I assume then that you feel no ill effects?" Harry smiled weakly and nodded.

In the silence that followed, Harry removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes before stifling a yawn behind his hand. With his trip to Diagon alley planned for the next day, they decided it was time to turn in. There wasn't a plan of action but there would be time for that discussion later, they both agreed that removing Riddle would potentially be far too dangerous, therefore a more subtle approach would be required.

 _They parted at the top of the main staircase, Cygnus patted him on the shoulder in a fatherly fashion and expressed his gratitude, not only for his trust but for wanting to alter the fate of his beloved daughter. Harry managed a genuinely pleased look in return, it may be a disaster, he might die before he's even born, but knowing there was a chance of doing some good gave him a sense of purpose, he headed back to his rooms and slept better than he had in a long time._


	7. Chapter 7 - Preperations

_A/N : I have used 2 names from other properties to name characters, I do not own them, I just liked them a lot. I am not making any money from this, it's just fan fic fun! Right, hopefully that covers me, I kept things vague to avoid spoilers._

 _Sorry I take forever to update, I really hope you like the chapter, thank you all for your positive responses, please follow, fave and review, ask questions or just say hello. Hopefully see you all soon for chapter 8_

 **Chapter 7 – Preperations**

Harry woke early, the grey light of dawn crept through the gaps in the curtains. He rubbed his eyes and cursed as a sharp bit of grit in the corner of his eye dug in, then he found himself laughing, it began as a little snort, then grew into a giggle, chuckling gave way to full belly laughs, until he was sat up gasping for breath and clutching his stomach.

The night before he had met the man who would be Voldemort and risked ruining time itself, why he found this hilarious, he had no clue, so far there had been no ill effects since he spoke to Cygnus. On reflection his life had always been surreal but this was going to be pretty hard to beat, he thought it best to not talk that up too much.

He was leaning over the edge of the bed reaching for his glasses when Noc appeared, the sudden shock unbalanced him and he fell in a tangled heap on the floor. The poor elf looked mortified and rushed to help extricate him from the knot of bed sheets, he emerged red faced but smiling, Noc ceased pulling on his ears in anguish and smiled back sheepishly.

Druella was keen to make a start on their day, there was a lot to do, so Noc had been sent along to help get him ready and escort him to breakfast. As he walked towards the bathroom the elf shook his head and pointed a long thin finger at him, he felt something, like a breath of wind and then his skin tingled all over, no time to shower, it had been taken care of by the elf, he smelt his arm and it was the same scent he'd used many time since his arrival, he shrugged and let the elf continue.

Noc had seemingly infinite patience, the robes he wore must have cost a small fortune, he could have easily walked into the swankiest club or restaurant, but at the same time he felt as comfortable as he did in jeans and t-shirt. Noc's patience evaporated when he attempted to tame Harry's hair, he wrung his hands and apologised, spending several minutes explaining to the poor creature, that it was always a mess, after Noc had calmed down, they headed to breakfast.

Harry was walking purposefully towards the room they usually ate in, but the elf steered him down hallways and through doors that he wasn't that familiar with. At last they stood in front of a non descript door, although each door was a work of art, each one was solid carved wood. Noc bowed farewell and with no further instructions he raised his hand and knocked.

A woman's voice called for him to enter, the room was a modest size, opulent, like every room in this huge house but understated, like each piece of furniture had been loving selected. It made sense to him that she would have her own space, much like Cygnus had his study. Huge windows looked out onto a scenic section of the vast garden. Sat at a small table was Druella Black, she smiled and gestured to the empty chair. They exchanged morning greetings as he made himself comfortable and then breakfast arrived.

After the breakfast things had been cleared away, they talked about his imminent return to school and the trip to Diagon Alley. The Black matriarch couldn't quite hide her excitement at having a surrogate son to dote on, she said as much while attempting to tame his hair with a few deft flicks of her wand, but to no avail. With a busy day ahead, they decided to make a start and in no time Harry found himself walking down the familiar cobbles of Diagon Alley, her hand resting lightly on the crook of his elbow. He stood a little bit taller than her, both were dressed immaculately, he certainly looked like a member of the magical aristocracy.

The place was crowded, as it usually was, but there was a slightly darker tone to the place. Florean Fortesque's shop was conspicuous by its absence, people travelled in groups, and he was pretty certain there was a noticeable Auror presence, hooded figures moved up and down through the crowds, noticably, with one hand secreted inside their robes, no doubt holding their wand. His suspicions were confirmed as a poster on a nearby shop window caught his attention, apparently there was a curfew in place and a list of precautions that should be taken to protect families and homes.

They walked to Gringotts first, he saw that many shops had taken a rather muggle approach to security, metal grates sat behind glass windows. That was nothing compared to the goblin bank, two huge creatures flanked the doorway, at first glance they looked like stone statues but he saw one move. Seeing the direction of his gaze, Druella told him that they were in fact Golems, huge clay contstucts brought to life by command words written on magical parchment. He wondered just how effective they would actually be against a well aimed 'Bombarda Maxima'

Inside the bank, several of these constructs walked ponderously up and down, little had changed from how he remembered it in his time, even the head goblin was the same creature that Hagrid had spoken to on his first visit here. Upon seeing the woman before him, his face split into a smile, rows and rows of sharp pointy teeth rather ruined the overall aesthetic. He snapped his long fingers and whispered into the ear of the goblin that came rushing, he apologised for the delay, and in no time the other goblin returned carrying a large leather bag, which jangled loudly as he walked.

The goblin, who identified himself as Griphook, gestured for them to follow. The cart ride was as gut wrenching as ever, he stole glances at the woman sat next to him, she seemed unfazed. The air grew colder and they headed deeper and deeper, the tracks led out into a huge open canyon and ahead, a huge waterfall, they ploughed right through it. Griphook laughed and explained the significance of the waterfall while his passengers dried themselves. The Thief's downfall would wash away all enchantments and activate the intruder alerts, the cart ground to a stop and the three of them stepped out into a roughly hewn hallway, the jangling from the bag echoed loudly.

The corridor twisted and turned, the end must be near as there was a flickering yellow light visible, Griphook stopped suddenly and put the bag down, when he stood back up he was clutching a pair of strange metal contraptions, he called them clankers.

Over the excruciatingly loud noise of the clankers came a bestial roar and the light at the end of the tunnel intensified and faded, leaving purple spots floating in front of Harry's eyes, the goblin chuckled darkly and Druella made no reaction at all, an obvious thing once he thought about it, as she'd have visited her family vault many times. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that waited for him at the end of the corridor, a huge cavern stretched further than he could see in all directions, vault doors were spaced out evenly on his left hand side, but he barely had time to register that, for in the centre was the biggest dragon he had ever seen. The Hungarian Horntail had been fierce, but it was long and sinewy, this dragon had an immense bulk, it was deathly pale and the skin on its wings was tattered in places. Its head was crowned with spikes and he saw that it was most likely blind, huge white orbs disappeared beneath scaly eyelids, Griphook rattled the clankers and it shrieked in fear, it reared up exposing it's belly, from flank to flank were a criss cross of scars, huge chains tethered it to the ground and having overcome his initial fear, Harry felt incredibly sorry for the creature.

The next time the clankers sounded, the dragon's response was minimal, it back up as far as the chains would allow and lay on the ground. Satisfied that the creature was subdued for the time being, Griphook set the devices down and turned his attention to the vault doors. Druella was already standing by one of the ancient doors, she pulled a slender dagger from the depths of her robes and cut the pad of her index finger, hissing at the sudden pain, she placed the bloody digit on the door, runes lit up on the surface of the ancient door and shimmered brightly in the gloom. The goblin didn't even hide his digust at the use of blood magic, but drew out his own knife and repeated the ritual, the door swung silently open.

Harry decided to stay near the doorway with Griphook, he was leaning against the wall and staring off into the middle distance when the goblin spoke.

"You don't look like a Black, and I'm pretty sure that she only has daughters" he pointed a long finger in the general direction of Druella's vault "The only other Blacks I know of are two boys, so, what's your story? You don't look like you belong here, you've been looking at me like you've never seen a goblin before"

The lie he had to perpetrate had become almost like a mantra to him, Cygnus had instilled in him the importance of this untruth, the Black name would hopefully do the rest.

"I'm distantly related, my parents are dead and the Blacks have kindly taken me in"

"Hmpf, that's uncharacteristically charitable of them"

He didn't quite know how to respond to that, the fearsome Black reputation must have come from somewhere, and no would would ever challenge it, so it made sense that the rumours would endure, his brain acted of its own volition and he spluttered out a random question.

"What's the Dragon called?" Griphook looked nonplussed

"Aeonyxx, I don't think there are many of my kind who remember that, I always get sent down to the deep vaults, he tolerates me more than most, the clankers are a necessary evil" a gleam had entered the goblin's near black eyes "would you like to meet him?"

Without waiting for a response, Griphook picked up a clanker and waddled across the cavern, instead of the harsh noise from earlier, it tinkled almost melodically. Despite his initial reluctance, Harry followed like he was connected to the goblin, as they got closer, Griphook spoke softly to the dragon in gobbledegook. The great beast raised it's huge head and smoke curled lazily out of its nostrils.

Griphook was now close enough to reach out his hand and stroke the dragon, it huffed out a tongue of flame, Harry jumped violently and clutched his chest, much to the goblin's amusement. He beckoned the young wizard over, when he was next to one of its big sightless eye he felt brave enough to touch it. The scales were remarkably smooth and almost painfully hot to the touch. They both started in surprise at the sound of Druella's voice, she stroked the Dragon's nose with the same air of indifference a muggle would have at petting a cat or a dog.

The return trip seemed a lot quicker and in no time they stood outside, blinking at the brightness of the day. Elegant bony fingers took him by the wrist and placed a large, heavy, leather pouch in his hand, he stuttered out a thank you, she waved it away, he knew that he'd need it, and as he had no money of his own, this was the only way.

They headed to Flourish and Blotts, he needed help locating all of the books he'd need, they were much different to the books he was used to, the Defence Against the Dark Arts book had a slightly sinister feel, the others were familiar but the material hadn't benefitted from several decades of magical advancement, and that thought made him miss his own time period all the more.

After the purchases had been shrunk and stashed away, he was free to pick up anything he felt he needed. Druella pointed out a small cafe where they would meet up again once they were finished, first he went and collected quills and parchment, then he headed to the apothecary to pick up a cauldron, scales and a years supply of basic potion ingredients. With his remaining time he found himself drawn to Quality Quidditch Supplies, his Firebolt would have blown their minds, he caught himself laughing like a fool and stopped immediately.

Certain that he had everything he'd need for the remainder of the school year he headed to the cafe, he was drinking a butterbeer and eating cake when Druella returned. In the middle of the table she had placed a magnificent looking birdcage, inside there was the most amazing looking Raven, oil spill colouring in the black of it's feathers and a vicious looking beak, it regarded Harry with shrewd eyes. It fluffed itself up and croaked loudly.

"My girls were never really good with animals, Narcissa hugged her cat to within an inch of it's life, Andromeda didn't want anything that would distract her from her studies, and as for Bella's Eagle Owl, lets just say that it reduced the number of Hogwarts pets significantly in her first year, I had a feeling you'd find him suitable, something that is yours when you are so far from anything safe and familiar"

She smiled, he swallowed the lump that had risen in his throat, his cheeks felt hot and he couldn't quite grasp the words that he felt were needed, instead he settled for just croaking out a 'Thank You.' Druella gave him a hug, he blew out a huge lungful of air as he struggled to keep his emotions in check, not only had the Blacks taken him in, they believed his crazy story and were doing all they could to make his situation bearable, there were still times he could barely contain his sadness at the hopelessness of being lost in time.

"What are you going to call him?"

"Quoth"

"Oh, very clever, like in that poem"

"You know it?"

"Of course, Muggles may not have magic but it doesn't mean they lack talent elsewhere"

He supposed it made sense that muggle culture would bleed into the magical world, for one they outnumbered magicals by a huge margin. The more he thought about it the less it made sense for them to hide away from everything muggle, in his time in muggle education, he'd heard all about the puritans hunting witches across Europe, and once he'd entered Hogwarts it was clear that had they caught an actual witch or wizard, they'd have a hard time killing them by burning or drowning.

That realisation made it worse, all those innocents who died by the torch and the ducking stool, for literally no reason.

Hating muggles in Harry's own time made even less sense, food shops weren't magical for a start, and he was sure a lot of witches and wizards, especially the ones in London, used the subway. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more examples he came up with, he'd even go as far as saying that the magical community was a little parasitical, they benefitted greatly from all the muggle infrastructure.

Back at the Manor, Harry had thanked Druella again for his wonderful gift, the finances and support, the food, clothes and the roof over his head, she waved it all away with an elegant gesture but praised him for his manners and gratitude. In his room there was a perch already in place, he thanked Noc out loud, having set the cage down, he opened the clasp on the door and pulled it open. Quoth squawked loudly and hopped onto the door frame, he flew onto Harry's shoulder, nipped his ear and darted off to his perch, where he sat preening his feathers.

He threw himself on the bed and made himself comfortable, he picked up his purchases from Diagon Alley and leafed through his text books, if Hermione could see him now, he was enjoying the quiet, the books were interesting as he could view the material within from a pretty unique perspective, there came a sharp knock on the door.

He wasn't expecting anyone, Cygnus wasn't home, Druella had things she wanted to take care of before dinner, Noc would just appear, he called out and invited them in. the door was yanked open followed by an explosion of black curls and energy, books magically scattered as Bella launched herself onto the bed, boots and all.

"Surprise!"

It was definitely that, he relaxed his grip on the book that was clutched to his chest like a protective ward

"I didn't think I'd see you until Hogwarts"

"Yeah, but mother wanted us back for the weekend, so we can all go to the station as a familiy"

She slid down the headboard so she was laying flat and spoke with a bored and put upon tone.

"That bad?"

"Nah, Andi and Cissy were totally on board, and I thought we could do some magic, there must be stuff you know that I don't, you should show me your most impressive spell, also I think Dad wants me to help teach you to duel" she leaned over and whispered "plus I know an awesome place in school where we can practise, it'll be fun"

He found it hard not to find her enthusiasm infectious, she went from laying down to upright in the blink of an eye, then she was bounding round to his side of the bed, the book was pulled from his unresisting hands and in the next moment, her hands were in his. Harry had enough time to note the softness and warmth eminating from them, with surprising strength, she pulled him up on his feet and he stumbled forward, but she held him steady.

The time spent stood eye to eye seemed to last forever, her lips were stretched into a smile, plump and red, the smile carried on right up to her eyes, such a dark brown that they looked black at first glance. A slightly pink tinge on her cheeks was the only bit of colour on her flawless, pale skin, she smelt spicy and exotic, her curls framed her face perfectly, and the voice in his head that was screaming to remind him that this is the one and only Bellatrix LeStrange disappeared like so many of his other misconceptions about the notorious Black family. The moment had lasted only mere seconds and then they were out in the hall heading for the garden. Once outside, Bella led them to a nice open area, walled on three sides with hedges crowning each one, she turned to Harry with a flourish, her wand in hand.

"Show me your best spell"

Harry was warming to the idea of showing off, one happy memory later and his fully corporeal patronus was strutting around them. Impressed, but not wanting to be outdone Bella summoned a snake of pure fire, it scorched a black path across the garden tiles before disappearing in a gout of flame. She was panting heavily and sweat was beaded on her brow.

"What on earth was that?"

"Fiendfyre, very dangerous, really hard to control, and you can't put it out with water"

"You have got to teach me how to do that"

"Sure, if you'll teach me how to conjure a patronus"

"You've never learned how?"

"No, why would I need it? You don't get Dementors just wandering around and there is no way I'm ever going to Azkaban"

Harry hoped that she was right, he had taken the first steps towards change and only time would reveal the results. Bella was eager to move on to duelling, he was less enthused, she was a very skilled duellist even now, and a good teacher. She taught him how to stand and spell cast, expending as little energy as possible. Duels were usually pretty short, and even going through the motions without hurling spells at one another was exhausting.

Sweating profusely, they both collapsed against the nearest wall, he was content just to listen to Bella talk about how he'd done, plans for further lessons and the fun they were going to have back at school, they were comparing notes on hidden passages when Narcissa and Andromeda came into view.

The young blonde witch's face split into a huge grin when she saw them, the middle sister arched her eyebrow at the unlikely friends and smiled a sly smile. Despite doing nothing, he felt a little guilty for some unknown reason. They whiled away the afternoon in the mansion's garden maze playing a form of tag, with magic. Harry learned quite quickly that slapping hexes hurt and that the Black sisters were Slytherin through and through, his first victim was Narcissa and he went easy on her, she didn't go easy on him, he showed weakness and was punished.

Eventually they were called for dinner and emerged from the maze sweaty and dirty, a little bit sore and laughing. Druella tutted her disapproval at the state of them, but allowed them to eat dinner before getting cleaned up, as in the morning they would be heading off to Hogwarts.

 _Before he was allowed to head out with Druella and the girls, he had one more meeting with Cygnus. The rules were simple, Harry was to keep a low profile, avoid the people he might know at all costs, and if anything went horrifically wrong, there was always the single grain of time sand. With a fatherly pat on the shoulder he was sent on his way. He was more nervous about his return to Hogwarts than he had been on his very first journey to the magical castle._


	8. Chapter 8 - Strangely Familiar

__A/N : Hello, just a reminder that I own nothing and no money has been made from this, just writing for you lot and the joy of it.__

 _ _I've used a section from the first book, pretty much word for word, I hope it works the way I intended.__

 _ _I'm struggling with how to reconcile the timelines, I've pinched a few ideas from a very old TV show, the name eludes me, and drew a little inspiration from Back to the Future.__

 _ _Thanks for all your reviews and making the effort to get in touch, please keep that up, I really enjoy it. Enjoy the new chapter__

 **Chapter 8 – Strangely Familiar**

Platform 9 and ¾ was teeming with students and parents alike, Harry stood with the Blacks in a line, no one paid them any attention. He studied the faces in the crowd looking for signs of anyone familiar, meanwhile, Andromeda and Narcissa had said farewell to their mother and disappeared into the throng. Bella gave Druella a mock salute, punched Harry on the arm, telling him she'd see him on the train and in a whirl of school robes, she was gone.

Standing alone in the noise and bustle of people was an unsettling feeling, it took him a few moments to realise that Druella had cast a spell, to allow them to talk in private.

"If you need anything or something happens, send Quoth, he will find Cygnus or myself. We talked about changing your appearance, but if the charms were detected it would raise awkward questions and we want to avoid that at all costs. As for your name, it's not exactly in line with the Black family traditions, but if you introduce yourself as Harry Black, I think most will let it slide, let's hope luck is on our side"

"Thanks, I'm more nervous than I was when I first stood here, but I'm not feeling the excitement this time"

He managed a weak smile and then he was pulled into a hug, he felt a huge swell of emotion. It would have been all too easy to let it out, the tears didn't come and for that he was grateful. They broke apart, he felt better about the situation, the important thing was to keep it together and focus on his task.

Before he boarded the train there was one last surprise, a gift, it was wrapped in cloth and felt heavy. Upon removing the twine and opening the cloth, he saw an ornate silver mirror.

"If you need Cygnus or myself just hold it up and speak the name of the person you want to talk to, sometimes it's hard to express yourself with ink and parchment, and seeing a friendly face can be a welcome comfort"

She took out her wand, bowed her head towards him and then apparated away.

The baggage they had arrived with had been taken, the crowd had thinned considerably and a shrill whistle blew to inform the stragglers that it was time to board the train. He pulled open one of the heavy carriage doors and stepped inside.

First years were creating an unholy amount of noise, he passed through the carriages and as he did the age of the students increased, he arrived in the carriage that he assumed held the majority of fifth years and was pleased to find an empty cabin.

The train blew its whistle a final time and with a clatter and a jerk it pulled out of the station, he shrunk the mirror down and stashed it in his robes, he sank down into his seat and gazed at the blur of scenery outside the window.

When the door to his cabin opened, he instinctively reached for his money pouch and turned to greet the witch running the food trolley.

"Bella!"

"Hey, mind if I join you?"

She didn't wait for a response, she threw herself into the seat opposite and stretched her legs across to Harry's side. He realised he was staring as she rearranged her robes and quickly found an interesting spot on the wall behind her to look at. When the food trolley arrived, Bella was elegantly slouched, she was playing with the stray curl that hung stubbornly in front of her face. He bought a selection of goods, his nerves had long since settled, leaving him with quite the appetite.

As he was tucking into a pumpkin pasty, his cabin partner sat up and stretched, with amazing speed she leaned over and snatched a pasty and a chocolate frog. There was only so much protesting he could do with a mouthful of food, the dark haired witch stuck out her tongue at him and wiggled her eyebrows at him suggestively. She tore into the chocolate frog packaging, complained loudly at getting another Morgana card, which she threw back to Harry, and splatted the frog as it tried to make good its escape. Having devoured the frog she started on the pasty as the door opened to an eerily familiar sight. With slicked back, platinum blonde hair and flanked by two cronies, it was just like being back in his own time, right down to the awful drawling voice.

"Ah, Bellatrix, a pleasure as always" Harry wanted nothing more than to wipe the smug look off his pointed face, Bella wiped crumbs from her mouth and extended her middle finger at the newcomers "Charming! Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend"

"Lucius, I thought I could smell sleekeazy hair potion" she wrinkled her nose in mock disgust "this is Harry, a very distant relative, and my father's ward"

"Harry? That's not a very Black name, no doubt short for some celestial body, such a quaint tradition"

"Fuck off Malfoy and take your stupid friends with you"

"So uncouth, is that any way to talk to your future brother-in-law? Tsk tsk, very well, I know when I'm not welcome"

His farewell couldn't have been any more condescending, his companions parted to allow him access to the corridor and then lumbered off after him. Bella shared a few creative and eye watering spells that she would very much like to use on the jumped up, over privileged, smarmy little shit. Harry didn't think it was wise to mention that all pure-bloods pretty much filled her description, he found her outburst amusing and surprising. Drawing from his own experience with Slytherins, he had always thought that the pure-blooded elite just got along, or perhaps they were just united when it came to their dislike of him. Future Bellatrix and Lucius tolerated each other enough to pair up when they confronted Dumbledore's Army in the room of prophecy

During the course of the journey Andromeda and Narcissa came to visit and stuck around for the remainder of the journey, he could have sworn looks were exchanged between the younger Blacks as Bella gave up her seat to sit next to him.

The sky darkened by degrees and the lights in the train carriage ignited, before long they felt the engine slow and they pulled sedately into Hogsmeade station. Slowly the passengers filtered out onto the platform, he followed the sisters out towards the Thestral drawn carriages.

As he passed one of the harnesses, a Thestral turned it's head and sniffed at him, he stopped and slowly reached out a hand to pet it. It stretched out its wings and nuzzled into the touch.

"What are you doing?" Narcissa was looking at him like he'd lost the plot, Andromeda and Bella were walking back towards them.

"Can't you see it?"

"There's nothing there, there never has been, the carriages just move on their own"

Once he had explained what they were and why they were invisible, and with a little guidance, the girls were able to touch the creature. Narcissa asked the question he'd been dreading, who had he seen die, he kept it vague, an unnamed friend and thankfully, that was the end of it.

They found an empty carriage and made the steady journey up to the castle, he vigorously rubbed the window free of condensation as the blurry lights of the school came into view, he may be out of his own time, but the castle was still a sight for sore eyes.

Everything was exactly the same, as he walked across the entrance hall, Bella gently grabbed his arm and pointed. To his surprise, a young and slightly thinner Professor Slughorn was heading towards him. His companions promised to meet him in the common room when he was done. The professor greeted him cordially, introduced himself and requested that he follow.

The hallways were comfortably familiar as was the path they took, soon enough they were both stood in the potion masters room, as head of Slytherin house, it was his job to sort him into the correct house, purely a formality, the portly professor told him, as no Black had ever been sorted anywhere else.

The sorting hat was produced with a flourish and placed in his hands, with a sense of trepidation he raised it up and placed it on his head, everything went dark and he waited for the hat to speak.

"Hmm" said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes – and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting … so where shall I put you?"

Harry remained stock still, and tried to keep all negative thoughts of Slytherin from his mind, the silence before the hat spoke again was agonizing.

"What's interesting?" he heard himself ask

"You don't belong here, but I'm not concerned with such things. You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and there is only one place that will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that"

The call of Slytherin seemed obscenely loud in the small room containing just two people. Slughorn looked positively delighted and clapped him on the shoulder with a meaty hand. Harry was well on his way to Gryffindor tower when he realised and made tracks for the Slytherin common room. He was surprised to see Andromeda waiting for him, fortunately, she had the good sense to realise he wouldn't have the password, 'Dark Arts' which he thought was apt.

As if she could read his thoughts, she told him that there would be food inside, most of the school hadn't returned home for the short break, choosing to stay in Hogwarts and had already eaten.

The common room looked exactly as it had when he and Ron had disguised themselves as Crabbe and Goyle. Bella waved them over and Harry found himself sat next to her again. Largely he was ignored by the rest of the common room crowd, a few pupils looked over to check out the new arrival. Between snacking and chatting, he took every opportunity to look at his new classmates, apart from Malfoy, he didn't recognise any future Death Eaters, that would all change once lessons began and he learned their names.

Narcissa yawned loudly and stretched then headed for her bed. Harry hadn't felt tired until that point, he was more than ready to get up and head to his room, if he knew where it was. Bella knew, a student had handed her a piece of parchment detailing all of the arrangements for the new boy, she showed him to his room, wished him good night and continued on to her own room.

Harry surveyed his cell, perhaps that wasn't a fair appraisal, it wasn't big, the bed sure felt comfortable when he sat on it, the bare stone didn't chill the room, his stuff had arrived safely and the furniture was functional. Even the Slytherin colours didn't bother him, he changed quickly into the first pair of pyjamas he found and crawled beneath the covers.

The room was still pitch black when he woke up and fumbled for his glasses, then forgetting where he was, he smacked his toes against the wall as he tried to get out of bed and fell back down clutching his injured foot and swearing. Harry dressed quickly and with a slight limp, headed out into the common room.

There were quite a few early birds up and about, a spotty first year came over and handed him his timetable, he thanked the boy and gave it a cursory look. Narcissa walked past looking immaculate and waved shyly, Lucius Malfoy followed after her like a puppy. Andromeda appeared not long after, she sat down and picked up his timetable, commenting on the classes they would share together. He asked after Bellatrix, she just sighed and explained that most mornings she had to drag her sister back into the land of the living, but not today, apparently.

Even with her crazy bed hair she looked stunning, she dragged her feet as she walked and didn't even bother to hide the huge yawn, as she sprawled across the nearest arm chair. They'd barely started a conversation when the dungeon entrance opened and a huge crowd spilled in, they all turned towards the commotion. A tall, dark haired, and he supposed, handsome young man seemed to be spearheading the group, just behind him was a similar looking youth and a mass of students obviously along for the ride.

The leader's face was a mask of barely disguised rage and in his hand was a crumpled piece of parchment, he stopped in front of Bella and smiled, if you could call it that, he thrust the parchment into her hand as he started to rant.

"What is the meaning of this Bellatrix?"

Her expression hardly changed as she skimmed her eyes across the page, everybody was watching and only a widening of her eyes spoiled the perfect resting bitch face. Her red lips curled up into a radiant smile and she threw the letter down, lifted her head to meet the boy's gaze and shrugged.

"I've no idea Rod, this is news to me"

"We're getting married, you were promised to me, your father has insulted me and my whole family"

"We aren't getting married any more, can't say I'm upset about it, and as I said, this is the first I've heard of it"

The calmness she portrayed just further stoked the fire of his anger, the assembled crowd were enjoying the drama playing out in front of them. Harry found himself staring at the two lads who could only be the LeStrange brothers, Rabastan, as it turned out, was promised Andromeda's hand, now his family had been slighted, he proclaimed that he wouldn't be honouring any union. Andromeda made a few choice remarks at those words.

In moments, both sisters were stood toe to toe with the LeStranges, insults flew back and forth with increased venom, Rod made an ill informed decision to refer to Narcissa as Malfoy's cock-sucking whore and the whole room erupted. Several first years screamed and fled, most didn't want to miss the possibility of a proper duel. Bella had her wand levelled at Rodolphus with such speed it was as if it had appeared in her hand.

Then the boys pulled out their wands, a few of their group did so too, but with some amount of hesitation. Andromeda was shoulder to shoulder with her sister and they had never looked more alike.

Harry drew his wand and for reasons unknown, gripped the vial containing the single grain of time sand, it was warm. His first move was to put himself between the Blacks and the LeStranges, as a hex glowed on the tip of Rodolphus' and Rabastan's wands everything stopped.

He stared dumbly at the glowing vial in his hand, then he let himself take in the scene around him. Every single person was frozen, he waved his hand in front of Bella's face, she didn't even blink. The next thing he tried was gently pushing someone, they just swayed gently in line with the force of his push. After poking and prodding a few more students, he looked at the vial in his hand, it was still glowing faintly.

With no clue how to reverse the effect and unfreeze time an idea popped into his head that was too good an opportunity to pass up. He turned Rabastan a few degrees to the left, and with a huge amount of effort, dragged his brother several feet away and turned him to face the other, with the wands aimed and everyone else out of the danger zone, he just hoped that time would resume flowing normally.

Harry tried shaking it, nothing, there was not much else he could do with it, he had no intention of taking it out of the glass container in case it got lost, in the end he put it back in his pocket. Time started moving again almost instantaneously, the hexes hit their marks and blasted them across the room, a few who were hit by the flying bodies started small skirmishes and then a booming voice called for order and in walked a purple faced Slughorn, flanked by a few smug looking first years, so much for keeping a low profile.

 _Back in the present_

Voldemort was pacing one of the upper most rooms in the Riddle house, he felt uneasy. Ever since the bizarre events in the Ministry were reported to him by his Death Eaters, he'd felt as though something were amiss. It was this uncertainty and the subsequent death of Lucius Malfoy that made him choose to leave the Manor for his family home.

Bellatrix was conspicuous by her absence, usually she was chomping at the bit in anticipation for the next opportunity to cause chaos. His most faithful servant was unpredictable at best, so it was rare that he barely thought about her at all.

He occupied his time poring over documents and ancient books, anything that mentioned prophecy. His Death Eaters were mostly all out on assignment, whether it was maintaining a respectable front or committing more nefarious acts. When he could put it off no longer, he apparated back to his rooms within Malfoy manor and pressed his wand to the serpent tattoo on his arm.

As the black smoke revealed the figures within, he could have sworn that there used to be more. There was a dull throbbing at the back of his skull. The door opened and Bellatrix sauntered in, he was sure there was a flicker of confusion on all the faces before him.

With a huge effort he listened to them give their reports, part way through he held up his hand to silence the speaker, in quiet silky tones he asked who was staking out the room of prophecy. The silence in the room was deafening and the pain inside his head intensified. It was coupled with a feeling that something wasn't quite right and the explanation was dangling tantalisingly on the fringe of his memory, but every time he reached for it, the further away it got.

At the back of the room Bellatrix was absent mindedly rubbing her ring finger, there was nothing there and it wasn't itching, she didn't even notice she was doing it Her mind felt a little bit fuzzy and her actions sluggish, she had to concentrate on concentrating. She really hadn't had that heavy a night, of that she was certain and one bottle of fire whiskey had never caused this much damage before, she wanted her bed. The Dark Lord was clearly agitated, nothing seemed to be going right after the incident in the Ministry, and their ranks seemed to have dwindled. The more she tried to recall her comrades, the less substantial those memories became, there were other changes and those thoughts were kept deep inside her mind's strongest magical defences.

Frustration had finally won over and a pained scream rent the air, Voldemort was bearing down on Rowle, who was writhing on the ground in agony, she couldn't hear the questions being asked but the answers were not satisfactory. When the green light had faded they were dismissed.

Back in the Riddle house, he wanted nothing more than to vent his anger, he turned furniture to splinters and removed chunks of wall. So many of his plans had fallen apart and he knew in his bones that one or more of his followers had failed him beyond forgiveness. No one could give him names, and there was no way they would have lied after his destruction of Rowle.

 _Hogwarts : 1971_

Harry thought he was probably quite lucky, the students who were brave enough to tell the head of Slytherin house about the fight, thankfully weren't in possession of all the facts. The LeStranges bore the brunt of the punishments, followed by those in the midst of fighting when Slughorn arrived. He had no idea what had happened to Bella and Andi, and as he rubbed his aching elbow before he resumed buffing the house cup, he was grateful that there were a lot less trophies in the trophy room than there were in his time.

When he was finally sent back to the Slytherin dorm, he was tired and sore, the common room was almost empty, he took a chair near the fire. Bellatrix arrived next, Harry heard her long before he saw her, she had a lot of imagination when it came to swearing. An inept first year potions class had left one heck of a mess, she had spent her detention scraping all kinds of awful off the walls and ceilings, then she had to salvage as many cauldrons as she could. Halfway through her rant she was cut off by a squelching sound, they looked up in unison as Andromeda shuffled into view, she looked like the victim of a botched drowning.

At first she thought her detention would be a breeze, all she had to do was clean the girls bathroom, on reflection she thought Filch had looked a little too happy, the girls bathroom was the one on the second floor and Moaning Myrtle was having a really really bad day. Now she could use magic again, Andromeda dried herself off.

They all kept their heads down for the remainder of the week, there was a distinct divide amongst the Slytherins now. Harry wondered if this had any profound affect on events in the future, without Bella marrying Rodolphus, would the young wizard join Voldemort's ranks, he hoped that no one had been unborn, but hoped more than anything that some of the warring parties would no longer choose the path that led them to be Death Eaters.

Emboldened by that thought he thought constantly about his next move, Andromeda had inadvertently placed the Chamber of Secrets into his thoughts. Even if he didn't attempt to kill the Basilisk within, perhaps he could just collapse the cavern, after all, a back firing Obliviate had brought most of it down when he was last there.

It was soon friday, Harry was day dreaming in Charms class when he was disturbed by a gentle prodding, he turned and Andromeda passed him a note, he quickly checked that the coast was clear and opened it.

 _Harry,_

 _We really must start our practising, and I'm dying to show you the place I've found. Also there's a Hogsmeade visit this weekend, we should go and try and score a few points against those smug Gryffindors._

 _Meet me in the common room after dinner._

 _Bx_

He hadn't been told there was a Hogsmeade visit, but as the lesson drew to a close, Flitwick called off the names of all those permitted to go. He almost wished his name hadn't been on the list, so far he had only seen his Dad's gang from afar, and he wanted to keep it that way. Bella's desire to cause the Lions grief was born from their most recent thrashing of Slytherin at Quidditch. There was a poster on the notice board in Slughorn's office that informed him that his team were looking for back up players, so far he had resisted, mainly because it would draw a lot of unnecessary attention.

On his way to the main hall he had to walk right past Rabastan, who shouldered roughly past him, as he turned to shout after him for being a jerk, he bumped into someone. With the initial anger gone he turned to apologise to the student, what he didn't expect to see was Peter Pettigrew picking himself off the floor, he looked at Harry with wide eyes. Harry grunted an apology and headed off to his table with his head down and his heart pounding.

He ate quickly and rushed back to the dorm, Bella was standing by the fire and her face lit up when she saw him. Even though it was still before curfew, they stuck to the shadows and secret passages, in no time they reached the seventh floor corridor. The door to the room of requirement slowly appeared and they ducked inside.

The room looked remarkably similar to what Dumbledore's Army used, except for the huge bed, as he looked at her, she just shrugged and told him that she liked to sleep. Ignoring the fact that the room had sleeping facilities, they began to train. They started with the basics and then focussed on stamina, he was surprised by how much spell casting took out of him. Dummies sprang up all around and Bella called out the spells she wanted him to cast, in no time he was sweating buckets.

Taking a break for some refreshments, they talked and he learned that wordless casting was just as draining, if not more so.

Next, she insisted that they actually duel, a prospect that didn't exactly fill him with joy. He felt a little bit better when she promised to only use defensive spells, the slight gleam in her eye and smirk on her lips made him suspicious. She assumed her fighting stance and circled her prey, he half-heartedly shot a few spells which she shielded and deflected.

Harry quickly got into his stride, he even began to enjoy it, and with her playful taunting, he wanted to best her as a matter of pride. It was over exuberance and determination that finished him off, he left himself open and a quick spell from the witch froze him solid.

She walked over, looking far too smug, she leant in to whisper in his ear, her curls tickled his face, he would have shivered if he'd been able, she smelt nice, training was over, she chuckled softly and released him.

The trip back to the dormitory was pretty uneventful, Mrs Norris was on the prowl, so they had to take a few detours. Nobody paid any attention to them as they entered, but Andromeda dropped her book a little and quirked an eyebrow at them before shaking her head and disappearing back behind her book. They sat and chatted for a while, Harry felt himself drifting off, a combination of the fire's warmth and tiredness from the training, he wished them a good night and made a beeline for his bed.

Saturday dawned bright, the sun was warm providing you could escape the wind. The main hall was packed with hungry students, and he felt that he ate better than he had previously, he also fell into chatting with several Slytherins, and when they were full, they left, eager for their day out. Once ticked off the list they headed towards Hogsmeade village, about halfway Harry removed his jumper, the walk had done much to get his temperature up.

Harry found himself alone, the excited chatter of pupils could still be heard but there was no one in sight. The weather was so nice that he took a longer and more circuitous route to town. As he approached the shrieking shack he heard voices, he slowed his pace and edged his way forward.

The figures came into view, they were huddled together and he knew exactly who they were. First the most obvious, small and fat Peter Pettigrew, a raggedy looking Lupin, Sirius and his father, they had their backs to him. It was Lupin who spotted him and nodded in his direction, slowly they all turned to face him. Harry clutched his wand in his pocket and stood his ground as they walked towards him, his father and Sirius had a certain swagger about them, it made him want to roll his eyes.

"Well look at what we've got here boys, a sneaking snake"

"J-j-james, that's the Slytherin who knocked me down"

"It was an accident, I was distracted" he responded a little more forcefully than necessary and cringed inwardly, Sirius looked delighted to have a reason to pick a fight.

"You're that new lad, another bastard Black, no offence padfoot"

"None taken, although I have no idea where this one comes from"

Harry tried hard to keep his face neutral but his heart was thumping, how could he have been so stupid, Sirius had access to the Black family tree and even if he didn't know it by heart, he'd know there was no Harry Black, shortened name or otherwise. As they talked amongst themselves, occasionally throwing out back handed insults, a crazy idea popped into his head, just in time for the crunch question.

"Who are you then? I'm always happy to meet my distant relatives"

"I'm Harry, and I'm actually adopted, not that it's any of your business"

He made to continue on his way to town only for them to close ranks, it would seem that they were looking for trouble and he would be the lucky recipient. Lupin looked genuinely uncomfortable with his friends' behaviour, Pettigrew had an almost feverish look, a complete coward with a mean streak, too afraid to do anything himself, but quite happy to revel in it with the protection of his friends. Harry wouldn't have been at all surprised if Wormtail had a tendency to harm small creatures, he knew what he was capable of from first hand experience and his wand arm twitched.

Before he could even contemplate escalating things, they were interrupted by another, as if things couldn't get any worse, Severus Snape sloped into view and stopped wide eyed at the scene in front of him, he fumbled awkwardly for his wand and actually drew it. James and Sirius couldn't contain their mirth at this new development, they even turned their backs on Harry.

The Marauders goading of Snape and the threat of taking things into the physical snapped him out of his slack jawed stupor. As the 4 bullies advanced on their target, the fact that the perpetrators were people he knew, loved and respected, made him feel sick and angry, he took out his wand and shot a powerful Bombarda Maxima at the floor, the concussive force knocked all four of them on their arses, it knocked himself and Severus back several paces.

 _Recovering quickly, he Obliviated the would be attackers, dragged Snape up by the front of his robes and made a hasty retreat. His unwilling companion was too shell shocked to do anything nut follow. In his whirling mind, Harry figured it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to make some friends within his house, he was pretty sure that he now had a fair few enemies._


End file.
